Chapter 5 - The Gift of the Dream Demon God
"Gasp?!"
With a short scream, his eyes snapped open. At the same time, a chilling winter wind swept across his body.
"Th-this is…."
Seo Juhwan trembled as he looked at the scene before him. Young men in their twenties, dressed in familiar military-pattern uniforms, were staring at him with puzzled expressions. To make matters worse, they were holding K-2 rifles in their hands.
"Sergeant Seo, what's wrong?"
"Sergeant Seo Juhwan?"
Voices came from all directions. The young men had brown, black, and green camouflage cream smeared diagonally across their faces.
Just seeing that damn camouflage cream made a curse slip out.
"Fuck."
He had no choice but to admit it.
'Yeomra, you bastard….'
That he had returned to the past as an active-duty soldier.
*
Before his regression, Seo Juhwan was a man who had been assigned misfortune due to wrongly given karma. In other words, he had no connection whatsoever with luck. To put it differently, he was someone completely cut off from fortunate coincidences.
Because of this, he was always cautious, never relied on luck, and tried to be recognized through his own ability. As a result, people often said he was overly careful, but that also meant he was stable in his skills and rarely made small mistakes. Even then, due to his inherent misfortune, he was never properly evaluated….
Anyway, that same Seo Juhwan was now making mistake after mistake. Not only were his movements sluggish, but he even stood blankly in the passageway as if he didn't know what to do—getting in other people's way on top of his own problems.
It was only natural that the company commander eventually shouted.
"Seo Juhwan, what do you think you're doing right now!"
A high-pitched voice rang sharply.
In a military composed mostly of men, a woman's high tone immediately drew everyone's attention.
Realizing her mistake, Jeong Sora pressed her forehead as if she had a headache.
"Haah."
She had always avoided speaking in a typically feminine high tone within the military. Especially in situations like this, she was even more careful. As a woman serving in the army, there were many things she had to be mindful of.
Jeong Sora spoke again, her tone calmer than before.
"Juhwan, you're the most senior here and the squad leader. You're supposed to be leading them—where is your head right now? Don't tell me you're deliberately acting out. What, are you annoyed because you're training near discharge?"
Her voice had lowered, but her tone grew sharper. Even the soldiers who weren't the target of her words stiffened at that. In fact, just a few weeks ago, some soldiers from another company had been severely reprimanded for trying to take leave during training week.
'Getting cursed at right after regressing, huh.'
From Seo Juhwan's perspective, it felt extremely unfair. Just moments ago, he had been imagining a hopeful future for his new life after regression.
But suddenly, he had returned to his military days. And of all times, it had to be during winter field training. On top of that, for some reason, his entire body ached as if he had been beaten somewhere.
Anyone else in his situation would have been just as disoriented.
"No, ma'am! I'm sorry!"
But this was the military, and the military was not a place that listened to personal excuses. In a situation like this, the only answer was to apologize without making excuses.
"…You… never mind. Get yourself together and finish organizing."
"Yes, ma'am! I'll get it together!"
"You answer well. Try acting well too."
"Yes, ma'am! I'll act properly too!"
"Alright, just go help the others."
"Yes, ma'am! Steel!"
"…Hah."
Seeing him energetically salute and act cheeky, Jeong Sora let out a hollow laugh as if her tension had drained away.
'Did he always have this side to him?'
The unfamiliar sight puzzled her for a moment, but she quickly followed along and began organizing the supplies.
*
As if trying to make up for his mistakes, Seo Juhwan worked diligently. Seeing the most senior soldier move as quickly as a recruit, the juniors also sped up their movements. Thanks to that, the supply organization finished quickly.
Perhaps because it ended sooner than expected, Jeong Sora spoke with a satisfied expression.
"Good work, everyone. Go back to the barracks, unpack your things, and wash off the camouflage. Shower order will be announced from the command post, so wait until then."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Juhwan, you unpack your things and then come down to report any unusual matters."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Jeong Sora headed toward the command post, and the soldiers went up to the barracks.
As Seo Juhwan was about to go up as well, someone grabbed him. When he turned around, it was a soldier who had been organizing supplies with him.
"Sergeant Seo, how about a cigarette after sending the guys up first?"
Since they were in the same company, the face was familiar. But from Seo Juhwan's perspective, it had been ten years, so he couldn't immediately recall who it was. Only after seeing the name and rank did he remember.
'Lee Junghoon? Ah, Junghoon hyung!'
Lee Junghoon was a junior who had enlisted about four months after him, but he was three years older. He was also one of the few people Seo Juhwan had liked during his service. Though after discharge, they had only kept in touch a few times before Seo Juhwan cut off contact.
Click.
The two lit their cigarettes and took a deep drag. Seo Juhwan let out a satisfied sigh at the taste of his first cigarette since returning.
Seeing that, Lee Junghoon laughed and spoke.
"Haha. Is it that good? Well, cigarettes after training really do taste amazing, right?"
"Yeah. It really clears my head."
Seo Juhwan didn't mind Lee Junghoon speaking casually. Around this time, they had already dropped formalities. When they were alone, Seo Juhwan still used polite speech due to the age difference, even though Lee Junghoon had told him not to.
"But hyung."
"Yeah?"
"Didn't you call me over because you had something to say?"
"…Was it that obvious?"
"Well, everyone else is smoking too, but you specifically called me."
"Haha. It's nothing much. Just wanted to tell you to cheer up. Don't take what happened earlier in front of the guys too seriously."
Lee Junghoon smiled awkwardly and patted Seo Juhwan on the shoulder.
Watching him, old memories resurfaced in Seo Juhwan's mind.
'Junghoon hyung used to look out for me a lot.'
Even though Seo Juhwan was technically the senior and squad leader, a three-year age gap was still significant. Moreover, back then, he had been quite withdrawn during his service.
'With that misfortune following me around, and living together for over a year….'
It was only natural that bad rumors would spread within the unit. As a result, he had been heavily scolded by both seniors and officers, and even his juniors preferred not to get involved with him. If not for Lee Junghoon looking out for him, things might have escalated into serious insubordination.
But the current Seo Juhwan was different. Before regression, he had been 32 years old and had experienced life in society, even if briefly. Most importantly, the misfortune that had followed him like a curse was now gone.
He deliberately spoke lightly to reassure him.
"It's fine. I made a mistake, after all."
"…Really?"
"Yeah."
"Then that's a relief…"
"Haha. It's nothing serious. If you mess up, you get yelled at. That's just how it is."
Lee Junghoon looked at him with slight surprise. The Seo Juhwan he knew wasn't someone who could brush things off so easily.
"Let's head up. If I'm late reporting, I'll get in trouble again."
"Ah, yeah. Sure."
Lee Junghoon watched Seo Juhwan's back as he jogged ahead, his expression filled with confusion.