Chapter 138.1: In a whole different league (1)

Choi Jong-Il couldn’t fire a single round of the K7 in his hands. He simply didn’t get the chance to.

‘Eleven soldiers.’

Choi Jong-Il knew the soldiers of the South Korean special forces and their training like the back of his hand. Moreover, based on what Choi Jong-Il knew of Kang Chan's melee combat abilities, he already expected his men to have difficulties defeating Kang Chan. However, he didn’t expect their battle would be so one-sided.

Bang! Bang!

‘That’s thirteen now!’

This was on another level. Kang Chan made no sounds as he moved.

Crawling forward on one’s belly, moving by twisting one’s body from side to side, opening fire while running, rolling on the ground and immediately assuming a firing position… Choi Jong-Il had learned all of that too. However, he never would have imagined doing it the way Kang Chan did.

This wasn’t just a man with a rifle. Choi Jong-Il felt as if he was watching a monster with three arms, one of which was a gun.

Kang Chan leaned on the corner of a building and lowered his stance before pointing with his index and middle fingers at the building right in front of him.

Seok Kang-Ho had a very sturdy build. However, that same burly and stocky man was currently creeping forward in a hunched position as silently as a cat.

Choi Jong-Il initially couldn’t understand what they were doing, but he realized for the first time in his life that if he aimed his rifle’s scope toward the glass window of the building from a short distance away, they could see through the reflection.

Seok Kang-Ho pointed four of his fingers.

One, two…!

Kang Chan had a habit of always being half a beat early.

By the time he had extended his right leg outward as smoothly as a spider would, his body was already out and turning the corner.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Kang Chan fired precisely four bullets. He didn’t have to fire in rapid succession to take down his targets.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep

.

Kang Chan returned to his original position and gave a slight nod to Seok Kang-Ho.

With Choi Jong-Il covering his back, Seok Kang-Ho advanced onward and occupied the area where the special forces soldiers had been assassinated just moments before.

‘Seventeen!’

Choi Jong-Il stood next to Seok Kang-Ho and glanced at the faces of the soldiers whom Kang Chan had swiftly killed. They seemed to be in disbelief at first for having been taken out of the battle so easily, but they soon despaired and, finally, seethed in anger over how powerless they were.

They never stood a chance. How could they even “fight back” when they were completely unmatched? If this was a real operation, this would rightfully have been called a massacre, not a battle.

Kang Chan’s eyes glinted. He spun his index finger in the air and gestured toward the building to their one o’clock.

Choi Jong-Il had no idea why their enemies were lying in wait there, and he also couldn’t figure out how Kang Chan had caught on to their plan.

However, Choi Jong-Il was certain about one thing. There would most definitely be soldiers on their one o’clock, and they would soon get assassinated!

This day was filled with new realizations for Choi Jong-Il. On that note, he came to the realization today that he could move without making a single sound even if he was wearing combat boots for as long as he touched the ground using the outer edges of his feet first.

Naturally, however, knowing how to do it and actually putting it into action were two different things.

Choi Jong-Il wobbled so badly that he was having a hard time keeping up.

Meanwhile, Kang Chan pointed at his eyes with his index and middle fingers, then signaled that there were two soldiers to their left and three to their right.

One, two!

Bang! Baang! Baang! Bang!

Seok Kang-Ho smirked—or at least the man that Choi Jong-Il formerly knew as Seok Kang-Ho did.

It was almost as if Seok Kang-Ho had split personalities, much to Choi Jong-Il’s amazement. Seok Kang-Ho’s gaze, actions, and even facial expression made him seem like an entirely different person.

Choi Jong-Il was soon brought back to reality with a wave from Seok Kang-Ho.

‘Get a grip, Choi Jong-Il! There are five soldiers here, that’s twenty-two cleared in total!’

There were only thirty men left now.

Kang Chan had eliminated twenty-two soldiers in merely twenty minutes, which was equivalent to about one person per minute.

With this training operation, Choi Jong-Il learned something important.

Fighting Kang Chan in a one-on-one knife battle meant getting severely injured before death. However, fighting him in a gunfight just meant instant death. To put it more accurately, Kang Chan only required a single shot to take his opponent down.

***

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.?

“Ha. Hahahaha!” Choi Seong-Geon burst out laughing incredulously as he looked at the entrance with a dazed expression.

Choi Seong-Geon didn’t even have to contemplate that long to imagine what would happen if Kang Chan were let loose in the DMZ. If they had an enemy like Kang Chan wreaking havoc in the DMZ… Choi Seong-Geon didn’t even want to finish the thought.

“Ahem,” Choi Seong-Geon coughed embarrassedly. He now understood why Jeon Dae-Geuk and Kim Hyung-Jung furiously scolded him and told him that they would no longer treat him as their junior.

They had suffered twenty-two deaths in twenty-one minutes and twenty-six seconds.

That means he took down one man every single minute…

Beep. Beep. Beep.?

“Huhuhuhu.”

No, he was wrong. The results were far more incredible than what he could hope to imagine.

“He still hasn’t used the radios once until now, has he?” Choi Seong-Geon asked.

“No, sir,” his subordinate replied.

“Ha!” Choi Seong-Geon exclaimed as he glared at the button marked with the single letter “S.”

Once he pressed the button again, the training operation would be over immediately.

His soldiers’ pride had probably already been hurt enough. How much damage would it do if all fifty-two of them were defeated and the subject that they had to protect was assassinated? All of that against a team of only seven men, at that…

Rumors would inevitably spread among the other soldiers. However, that wasn’t the issue right now. Choi Seong-Geon had to somehow think of a way to restore the devastated pride of his men.

Could there be anything more important than keeping the pride of South Korea’s representative, their country’s most elite special forces team, intact?

Choi Seong-Geon anxiously gulped as he moved his finger above the button marked “S.”

***

Weeoo! Weeoo! Weeoo!

The moment Kang Chan’s team discovered their next targets and began approaching them, the siren that rang when the training began started ringing again.

It was only a little over half past four, so the sun was still high up in the sky.

[Training is over! All personnel, gather in front of the stock firm building!]

The voice of Choi Seong-Geon’s aide echoed clearly through the miniature city, making it seem as if it was broadcast over the intercom by a mayor in a rural village.

Kang Chan straightened up and turned to Choi Jong-Il with a curious look.

“It seems the training is over, Mr. Kang Chan,” Choi Jong-Il said.

Kang Chan was completely aware of that. He heard the announcements as well. He shot a glance toward Choi Jong-Il not because he didn’t understand the announcement but because he wanted to know why the training was suddenly rushed to an end.

The soldiers who had been numbly sitting down on the ground got to their feet. As they walked toward the stock firm building, some looked at Kang Chan with sharp gazes while others shot him glances filled with disbelief.

“Kang Chan!” Kim Tae-Jin shouted in greeting.

Kim Tae-Jin, Suh Sang-Hyun, Woo Hee-Seung, and Lee Doo-Hee walked over to him with their rifles pointed toward the ground.

“What happened?” Kim Tae-Jin asked in confusion.

“I’m not really sure,” Kang Chan replied.

“I kept hearing gunshots. What were those?” Kim Tae-Jin asked again.

“Mr. Kang Chan assassinated twenty-five soldiers, sir,” Choi Jong-Il chimed in, answering the question.

“What? How many?” Kim Tae-Jin asked, doubting his ears.

“Twenty-five in total, sir,” Choi Jong-Il repeated.

Kim Tae-Jin nodded in understanding, seemingly having realized why the training had ended so abruptly.

Kang Chan didn’t understand what the fuss was about. After all, the number meant nothing to him.

“Let’s go and see,” Kim Tae-Jin said.

As the party reached the stock firm building, Choi Seong-Geon and his aide walked out to greet them. They then politely saluted Kim Tae-Jin.

“I would like to stop the training here,” Choi Seong-Geon said.

“Well, it doesn't matter to me. Whatever the commander says goes, and you’re in charge, General Choi,” Kim Tae-Jin responded.

“Can I invite you all to dinner?” Choi Seong-Geon asked.

Kim Tae-Jin turned to Kang Chan.

“Sure, why not.”

“Great. Let’s head back down, then,” Choi Seong-Geon said.

Following Choi Seong-Geon’s long strides, the group left the miniature city the same way they came.

Not too long after, they arrived at the parking lot in front of the barracks.

“You can turn in your weapons to the officer,” Choi Seong-Geon stated.

That was fantastic. There was certainly no need to lug these heavy things around.

Kang Chan took off the radio and the weapons he was carrying and set them down.

“Why don’t you head inside for a moment, everyone? Just go and check if the food has been prepared as planned for now,” Choi Seong-Geon ordered his aide.

“Yes, sir,” the officer replied.

Upon hearing his aide’s affirmation, Choi Seong-Geon opened the door to his barrack. Kim Tae-Jin, Kang Chan, and Seok Kang-Ho followed him inside.

Choi Seong-Geon gestured for them to take a seat at the table and brought them cups of instant coffee.

“Do you smoke?” Choi Seong-Geon asked Kang Chan.

“Yes, I do,” Kang Chan replied.

“Sir, it’s okay if we smoke, right?” Choi Seong-Geon asked Kim Tae-Jin.

Kim Tae-Jin replied by holding out his hand to ask for a cigarette as well.

Kang Chan hadn’t seen the type of ashtray in front of them in a while. It was a massive glass tray that seemed like it would require smoking ten packs of cigarettes to fill it.

Choi Seong-Geon offered Kang Chan and Seok Kang-Ho a Korean-made cigarette before taking one out for himself, and Seok Kang-Ho pulled out a lighter to light up their smokes.

“

Haan

. Sir, what is the real purpose of this training?” Choi Seong-Geon asked Kim Tae-Jin. His eyes flashed sharply, and his tone was dead serious. “I know it’s a classified government secret. I also admit that it was my fault for not keeping the soldiers in check this morning. However, at the very least, I would like to know

why?

I’m making my men go through such training before I force them to do it.”

Oh, so they didn’t tell Choi Seong-Geon either.?

Kang Chan finally realized why the atmosphere was so heavy.

“That’s a question that only Mr. Jeon can answer. Why don’t you give him a call right now instead?” Kim Tae-Jin suggested.

“I see,” Choi Seong-Geon mused.

Choi Seong-Geon peeked at Kang Chan, then pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons to dial Jeon Dae-Geuk.