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Chapter : 3
A New Beginning (2)
The man rolled his eyes around wildly. The current situation was bad—really bad. The meat hadn’t actually been Earth Dragon meat, so if the police showed up and started asking questions, the investigation would inevitably trace back to how it all began, and everything would be exposed. Even if it didn’t go that far, the guy standing right in front of him was more than frightening enough as it was.
He’s definitely stronger than me… and on top of that, he’s an esper…
Still seated on the ground, the man let out an awkward laugh while glancing around. It was a pathetic attempt to look for an escape route. Seeing that, the elf hurriedly waved his hands.
“I—I don’t know him. That guy.”
“Hey!”
The betrayed man shouted indignantly.
“That’s enough.”
At Suhyeon’s words, both men’s mouths snapped shut automatically.
Not long ago, Suhyeon had been fighting powerful monsters on brutal battlefields, constantly crossing the line between life and death, and carrying out dangerous covert operations against intelligence agencies from multiple nations.
And now here he was, dealing with two back-alley idiots.
Suddenly, Suhyeon felt pathetic.
No—don’t think like that. I should be grateful just for having a healthy body again.
Having his body restored was the biggest blessing of all, but the fact that he had returned to the past was just as important. Suhyeon intended to take full advantage of this opportunity. Unlike before, he had no intention of joining the military again and wasting away his youth in sacrifice.
To do that, I need to take the first step.
Suhyeon held out his hand.
The elf’s eyes widened.
“Hand over the money.”
“……”
Of course, he was getting his money back. After being scammed, there was no way he was just going to walk away. The elf, looking dejected, returned the bills Suhyeon had given him.
“You don’t have to give it all back.”
“Huh?”
“If it’s pork skewers, this much is about right. Just take this. They’re tasty enough. Just don’t scam people by calling it Earth Dragon meat. People who don’t know any better will eat it without question, but anyone knowledgeable will notice immediately. If you keep pulling scams like that, trusting just one idiot like him, you won’t die of natural causes.”
“Kind human. I like you. Thank you.”
“Yeah. Mr. Elf… By the way, what’s your name?”
“Franjo. Call me Franjo.”
“And that guy?”
“Joo Hanseong.”
“Thought you said you didn’t know him?”
“Ah!”
The elf slapped a hand over his mouth. Watching him fall for such a simple trap, Suhyeon shook his head.
“You really don’t have any talent for scamming. Just sell pork skewers. That’s how you live a long life.”
Without saying anything else, Suhyeon turned and walked away. The two men stared blankly at his back, then looked at each other.
“What kind of guy was that?”
“No idea.”
“Hey, you bastard! You sold me out?!”
“Must survive. Survival first!”
Even though he had boldly walked away from the military, Suhyeon couldn’t imagine himself as anything other than a soldier. Both his parents were career military officers, and he had grown up believing he would become a soldier working on Planet Cameron. In his previous life, he had stayed in the military right up until he became a wreck of a man.
Suhyeon had no confidence in holding any job other than being a soldier. All the experience and skills he had built up were tailored for military life; they wouldn’t be particularly useful in other professions.
Fortunately, Planet Cameron was a place overflowing with demand for capable combatants. And Suhyeon had pride in his own abilities.
Over ten years of honed combat experience. All the information he had accumulated about Planet Cameron. If used properly, their value would be limitless.
“Found it.”
Arriving at his destination, Suhyeon frowned at the unexpectedly shabby exterior of the building.
What’s wrong with this place?
Uncle Joe Company. It was one of the PMCs (Private Military Companies) Suhyeon remembered from his time in the military—a modern, organized mercenary corporation.
After dimensional gates opened and Planet Cameron was discovered, the most booming industry was the PMC business. Like the gold rush sparked by the discovery of gold mines, mercenaries flocked to Planet Cameron, chasing dreams of sudden wealth.
There was a reason for that. The dimensional gate leading to Planet Cameron was located in North Korea. Only a limited number of countries could even approach that area with military forces, and aside from a few nations, most didn’t have the authority to deploy troops at all.
Moreover, conventional armies were poorly suited to exploring and developing Planet Cameron. They were already stretched thin just maintaining security in developed cities—adding the task of scouting and advancing into unexplored territory was unrealistic.
On top of that, Planet Cameron’s environment was extraordinarily dangerous. Combat attrition during expansion was massive. Only after large-scale protests erupted over soldiers dying during development did large-unit military operations come to a halt.
Still, Planet Cameron remained a land of opportunity. No matter how dangerous it was, people couldn’t resist what lay inside. So they found another way.
One such alternative was PMCs—specialized mercenaries. Since they operated based on profit, dealing with casualties during missions was far simpler than when soldiers died.
Whether it was escorting developers after discovering resource locations, providing protection while searching for new resources, or countless other tasks, demand for PMCs was endless.
For someone like Suhyeon, who only knew how to fight, joining a PMC was the easiest path to success on this planet. Even if he wanted to leverage his information, he needed a foundation first.
Uncle Joe Company was a PMC Suhyeon had heard about while serving in the military. There were countless PMCs operating on Planet Cameron, with just as much variation. Some were massive, operating like large corporations, while others had fewer than ten members and didn’t even own a building.
Uncle Joe Company… I heard the boss is incredibly capable…?
Suhyeon didn’t know much about them, but what he’d heard had left a strong impression. The boss was said to be highly skilled, yet somehow avoided earning a bad reputation among associates.
Given that mercenary work was a profession where one could behave as dirty as they pleased, Suhyeon found that surprising. Being highly capable while still earning decent evaluations from others wasn’t easy.
That meant the boss was probably someone competent and principled. That was why Suhyeon had come here. No matter how good his abilities were, joining a shady organization would be a disaster. If he was unlucky, he could be exploited outright. In this industry, character mattered more than anything.
Still… no matter what, this is a bit much…
It looked like they were still using a building from the early days of Cameron’s development. It was so old it seemed unstable. For a moment, Suhyeon wondered if he had come to the wrong place.
When he opened the rusty iron door, it let out an unpleasant creak. Inside, however, the space was neatly maintained—completely different from the exterior.
“Who are you?”
“Ah. This is Uncle Joe Company, right?”
“That’s right.”
“I came here to apply.”
“There are no openings.”
“What? No openings?”
Mercenaries on Planet Cameron were always in short supply. If things went well, one could make a fortune—but the risks were just as high. The unpredictable environment, along with monsters unimaginable to people accustomed to Earth’s norms, meant that the more fighters, the better.
If Uncle Joe Company were a top-tier PMC, it might make sense that they had already secured plenty of proven mercenaries—but from the outside, it didn’t look that way at all.
“Really?”
“I’m serious. We didn’t even post any recruitment notices. How did you find us?”
“Well, maybe so, but aren’t mercenary positions always open?”
“Huh? Mercenary?”
The woman at the desk blinked and looked Suhyeon up and down. Aside from looking shabby, there was nothing particularly distinctive about him. He didn’t look like a seasoned soldier. Early twenties was an age that got you treated as a rookie anywhere—not someone with experience.
“You can always find mercenaries.”
“Then what did you mean by no openings?”
“I assumed you meant an office job. There are no openings for that.”
“I have zero intention of doing desk work. So, there is an opening for a mercenary?”
“There is, but… um… are you sure you’ll be okay?”
Suhyeon smirked. He understood what she meant. It was a dangerous position—was he truly prepared for that? There were plenty of clueless rookies who wandered in, unaware of what they were getting into.
But Suhyeon was on a completely different level from those rookies.
“What’s going on?”
Perhaps he had overheard the conversation. A man in his forties walked out from an inner room. He had a thick, scruffy beard and untrimmed hair, giving him a sloppy appearance. He looked unreliable in some ways. He glanced at Suhyeon, then turned to the clerk.
“Who’s this?”
“Someone who wants to join as a mercenary, but…”
The unspoken words—he doesn’t look very reliable—were clear to both Suhyeon and the man. Scratching his chin, the man asked,
“You want to be a mercenary?”
“Yes.”
“Experience? Worked anywhere before?”
Wait… now that I think about it…
Only then did Suhyeon realize that his résumé was a mess. In his previous life, he had joined as a regular soldier and climbed all the way to becoming a special forces commander—but now, none of that existed.
Suhyeon knew his own abilities and was confident, but without concrete proof, no one else would believe him.
“No.”
“No? You know what kind of work we do here, right? What kind of guts does it take to come here with nothing?”
“I received basic training in the Korean military.”
That was at least something. Thinking so, the man nodded.
“Wait—then why are you here? How old are you? Even if I’m generous, you should still be getting beaten to hell as a new recruit right now. No way you’ve already been discharged.”
“I talked back during training camp and got kicked out.”
“What? Pwahahahaha!”
The man burst into laughter, laughing so hard tears welled up in his eyes. After finally catching his breath, he looked Suhyeon over again. Overall, he definitely seemed like a rookie—but his build was solid, and he was clearly well-trained.
And right now, they were severely understaffed. This wasn’t the time to be picky. If they could train an inexperienced recruit and make use of him, that might actually be even better.
