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CHAPTER 07
The monsters that appeared in the original story were already known to me without needing to memorize them, but there were still many new pieces of monster-related knowledge I had to learn.
‘Level 3 monsters… those were the most common, average-grade ones.’
Monster ranks are divided from Level 1 to Level 4.
Level 2 is considered a danger class. Level 3 is the normal class. And Level 4 consists of things like insects that even ordinary imperial citizens—not just the other races—can handle.
‘So the monsters we usually deal with are mostly Level 2 or Level 3.’
Level 1 monsters are the kind that even several well-trained members of the other races couldn’t defeat together—monsters you’d almost never encounter in a lifetime.
“Skeleton extermination method.”
Plato stared at me sharply as he began the question.
“Target the joint connections of the bones, and in the end, completely separate the head from the torso.”
“Ghast habitat.”
“They live underground or in caves without sunlight.”
“Extermination method?”
“They die when exposed to light, so lure them into bright areas if possible. If not, use fire. Of course, you can also just cut them all down with a sword.”
I remember…
I remembered reading about Aquila saving the original heroine Dalin when she went on a ghast extermination mission and ended up in danger, unable to do anything.
Aquila used his fire attribute aura to wipe out all the ghasts at once, and Dalin cried, feeling utterly incompetent while watching him.
‘If you know you’re incompetent, then at least train.’
But in the original story, instead of training after realizing her limits, Dalin ended up hugging Aquila in a pitch-black underground space.
“Waaah, Aquila… I don’t know why I can’t change anything…”
“You don’t need to try so hard. You don’t need to suffer like that. I swear on my name that I will protect you so not even a single strand of your hair is harmed.”
After that came a romantic description of them embracing for a long time. Thinking about it again just annoys me.
‘It was definitely supposed to be a romance fantasy novel, so why am I living a military story instead?’
And honestly, Aquila was a problem too. Even though he knew other soldiers had to suffer because Dalin wasn’t doing her job, he still went on about protecting her.
“Good. You pass.”
While I was fuming over the original story, Plato nodded in satisfaction and moved on to Kal, who was sitting next to me.
Unfortunately, Kal couldn’t answer immediately…
“Hey! Ogre! Ogre! You still haven’t even memorized the monster names?! You’re getting deployed in a week—what, you want to die early? If so, just say so, we’ll kill you ourselves instead of the monsters!”
I silently paid my respects as Kal was promptly kicked.
‘Just hold on for 7 years, 11 months, and 8 days…’
“Plato-nim! We have a serious situation!”
At that moment, Ishina—the senior above us—came running in a hurry. I instinctively turned my head toward him, then quickly snapped it back before Plato noticed.
“What is it?”
“A Level 3 ghoul has appeared in the village at the base of the mountain! It’s an emergency subjugation order! Lady April has ordered us to pack up and prepare immediately!”
“A ghoul?”
Plato’s expression darkened.
“Got it. Ishina, go back first. I’ll explain the situation to the recruits and take them immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
‘Emergency subjugation?’
A Level 3 monster like a ghoul is not particularly dangerous to the other races. For rookies like us, it would be tough, but even Ishina—who is only a few months ahead of us—could handle one alone without much trouble.
‘So there’s no need to be this tense just because a ghoul appeared…’
If it reached the village, that would be a problem, but ghouls aren’t fast. People would have enough time to evacuate. We just needed to move quickly and eliminate it.
“Recruits. Listen carefully and brace yourselves.”
Plato looked at us with a hardened expression.
“Sarubia, do you remember the traits of a Level 3 ghoul?”
“Yes. It resembles a human but is not fully human. It stands on two legs but is hunched forward, looks grotesque, and makes groaning sounds. It lives underground or in graveyards and avoids bright places…”
As I answered, I realized something was off and stopped.
Plato nodded slowly as if confirming something.
“Correct. Ghouls don’t normally descend into villages. And this village doesn’t even have a graveyard—it uses the mountain instead. So there’s even less reason for a ghoul to appear here.”
A bad feeling crept in.
“In a dark mountain filled with trees, if a ghoul that lived in a graveyard comes down to the village…”
Damn it. This feels like something that also happened in the original story.
“It means something far stronger than a ghoul has appeared in the mountains.”
Probably not a Level 2 monster. Monsters usually maintain their own boundaries.
So this means…
“A Level 1 monster has appeared in the mountain. We are going to subjugate it.”
‘…Is this a death flag?’
“Are you ready, Sarubia? Yuri! Help her pack her gear!”
“Yes, understood.”
The room was cluttered with scattered items. April, busy writing something in a notebook while packing, looked extremely occupied.
The tall black-haired senior, Yuri, walked over to me in place of April.
As usual, she didn’t bother to speak to me unless ordered, and her cold attitude made it clear she was only helping because she had to.
“You’ve learned how to pack a military bag, right? Do it in front of me.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Wait, that goes on the bottom—it’s too bulky.”
“Oh, sorry!”
“Hey, why would you put that there?”
‘Do you even know my name?’
As always, Yuri never once addressed me by name. I complained inwardly as I watched her cold instructions.
After packing my gear under her supervision, I ran out to the training field and lined up with the others.
“Everyone ready?”
The platoon leader stood on the platform with a stiff expression.
“Ghouls have been spotted in the village. Gamma Platoon will handle them. Our Alpha Platoon will move into the mountains to eliminate a Level 1 monster. We must eliminate it before it descends. Beta Platoon will rendezvous with us soon. Reinforcements have also been requested.”
Even Plato, Leon, and Louise—all the senior soldiers who always seemed so capable—looked tense.
“We are the Border Defense Corps. We follow the nation’s orders. Officially, our objective is the extermination of a Level 1 monster.”
But the next words made my body stiffen even more.
“However, our true objective is survival.”
I glanced at Ishina without being noticed.
I had grown attached to my seven fellow trainees over the past month. All of them—even Aquila, with whom I barely exchanged words.
If they were wiped out… I couldn’t even imagine what Ishina would feel.
If it were me, I would’ve lost my mind. But Ishina was the original story’s third male lead—his mental strength must be different. That must be the trend: “kind on the outside, but secretly a mastermind.”
‘More importantly, I need to survive.’
“We cannot retreat in front of a Level 1 monster. If we retreat, the village is finished. We fight with our lives on the line.”
Someone swallowed hard.
“But that does not mean you must throw your lives away. Survive at all costs. I do not want to lose a single soldier. That is all.”
The entire formation fell into heavy silence.
My heartbeat began to race.
Before enlistment, I cursed my life while being mistreated at an orphanage…
After enlistment, I endured brutal training and constant shouting…
But I had never felt tension like this before.
“Move out!”
We began marching with stiff, awkward steps. The heavy gear on my back was the only thing grounding me in reality.
Looking around, everyone else was just as tense—especially cowardly Kal, whose arms and legs were practically failing him.
Damn it, their fear is making me more nervous. It’s contagious…
“Tch… what a mess…”
Then April’s voice cut through the cold air. Her shining blonde hair caught the light as she looked at us with disappointment.
“Why are you all so nervous?”
The seniors immediately reacted.
“Hey, decide whether monsters are scarier or we are.”
“Ha. You think you’ll run when you see a monster later?”
“Don’t worry. As long as you don’t mess up, you won’t die. Of course, if you do mess up, we’ll kill you before the monsters do.”
‘Wow… I suddenly feel calmer!’
Hearing their terrifying scolding strangely wiped away my fear.
‘Yeah, nothing in this world is scarier than those people.’
Facing monsters would probably be easier than dealing with them. If a monster pisses me off, I can kill it—but I can’t exactly commit insubordination against those seniors…
Thinking about how failure in this mission would trigger an even worse hell from April and the others, a burning determination rose inside me.
‘I will succeed. I absolutely will.’
If humans could build pyramids, then surely hunting a Level 1 monster was possible.
“Sir Elliot, what do we do?”
At the front of the formation, April whispered quietly to the operations officer Elliot so the juniors wouldn’t hear.
Elliot, always lethargic in attitude but one of the most experienced soldiers in the unit, was someone April could rely on.
“What else? We go kill the Level 1 monster and come back.”
“The recruits haven’t even been here a month. You know they’re not ready for real combat. They won’t survive a Level 1 encounter.”
“Then what do you want me to do? Leave them behind like useless dogs? You know the rules. We follow orders.”
“Five soldiers from the previous 89th batch died from a Level 2 monster…”
“And you trained these kids hard enough. One more day at that intensity and they would’ve deserted. You were brutal, April.”
April hesitated, then finally spoke her thoughts.
“…But you know someone will die anyway, don’t you?”
