I Became a National ‘Disaster’ Level Monster

Chapter 5 Do Not Ever Touch That Recruit

Who could have imagined?

South Korea, composed solely of high-rise apartments.

In a place where they built only tall, towering buildings because so many people gathered in the capital that it was even called the Republic of Seoul.

“Ta-da. We’ve arrived~.”

“Yes, yes…!”

I never thought I would live in a detached house.

“Come on, let’s go in! Our house is super spacious!”

“Oh, really… It looks like it…”

This was Saegok-dong, located in Gangnam-gu.

As Ms. Rowling drove her foreign car into the parking lot of the detached house complex, a security guard walked over as if he had been waiting.

“Ma’am. From now on, we’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you.”

Wow, I had only seen this kind of thing on celebrity shows.

After handing over the car keys and passing by the security guard who would park the car, we headed towards the passage connected to our house.

During this, Sophia held my hand tightly.

Feeling a bit burdened, I glanced to the side.

Sparkle.

I could see a blonde girl staring at me with bright, shining eyes, making me feel even more pressured.

“Mom, mom!”

“Hmm?”

“I think Dad will really like Shin-woo! I have a feeling!”

“Dad…?”

Come to think of it, I hadn’t met her father yet.

Since he was the husband of the commander hunter, he must have impressive credentials as well.

At the very least, he would be in the top 5% in South Korea.

“Uh, Ms. Rowling.”

“Feel free to call me, um… or Auntie.”

“Oh, okay. Then Auntie.”

Ms. Rowling, thinking that I felt burdened calling her ‘Mom’ from the start, offered her kindness.

Smiling at her considerate words, I continued my question.

“So… what kind of person is Sophia’s dad?”

“Hmm? My husband… well, if I had to say…”

“He’s super cool!”

“And also strong.”

“He’s funny too!”

“And he has a charmingly straightforward manner, which is exactly my type of man… Oh dear, I shouldn’t have said that part to a child.”

In short, it meant that she and Auntie Rowling were a match made in heaven.

At the same time, it seemed that he was an irreplaceably precious father to Sophia.

“Go get some drinks, buddy!”

“Jealous…”

It was when we stood in front of the elevator connected to the detached house after passing through the passage.

“Oh, and Dad is just like me!”

“Hmm?”

“Dad is also a ‘Beast Hunter’ just like me!”

A Beast Hunter?

A person whose sociability has plummeted underground to -100, making communication utterly impossible.

Realizing that this was the person I was about to meet, I quickly turned to Ms. Rowling.

“Yes, that’s right. And simultaneously, he is a soldier.”

“A soldier?”

“Yes. His current rank is probably… ‘Chief of Staff of the Army’ or something like that?”

A Beast Hunter, who finds even mingling with people a struggle, is the Chief of Staff commanding all the soldiers in South Korea.

Just how strong is his mental fortitude?

The mother is a Commander Hunter on par with three-star generals on the battlefield.

And the father is the Chief of Staff representing the Korean Army.

“This is truly a golden spoon…”

I corrected my earlier thought.

Sophia’s father was not just in the top 5% of South Korea; he was among the top 0.1%.

Thanks to that, I swallowed hard.

No matter how impressive he was, as a Beast Hunter, he would not welcome a human newly entering his nest.

Of course, I hoped he would like me, a person mixed with a monster, just like Sophia, who was holding my hand.

“Let’s consider the worst-case scenario.”

I was not a perfect monster.

He might feel more of my human side than my monstrous side.

Prepared to sit on pins and needles, I finally took the elevator and entered the detached house.

“Dad! I’m back!”

As soon as we returned home, Sophia let go of my hand and ran to find her dad.

I was so nervous that the hand she had been holding was soaked with sweat.

“Phew. Phew.”

“Nervous?”

“A bit, yes.”

It reminded me of the time during my military service when I was on guard duty awaiting the visit of the division commander.

Back then, my heart pounded as much as it does now.

To calm myself down, I briefly looked around the house.

A huge TV hung on the wall, warm sunlight streamed onto the terrace, and outside, a small garden with grass could be seen—a luxurious place.

Above all, the house was incredibly spacious.

Even a 30-pyeong apartment, the most desired home in Korea, would look like a doghouse in comparison.

Thanks to this, I felt even more nervous.

“Who on earth will come out… I’m so scared…”

Just as Ms. Rowling smiled at me from above,

“You’re finally here!!”

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

The ground shook as someone enormous approached, making my entire body tremble.

Gulp.

Was I so nervous that I felt like a vibrating cellphone?

Then, driven by survival instincts, my mind suddenly recalled a passage from the official setting book of *Hunters Blood* that I had read in the past.

In this world, unlike the original one, where monsters existed, conscripted soldiers fought monsters without distinction between ranks and file.

As a result, the value of soldiers in this world was much higher than in reality.

If someone in this world were to say to conscripted soldiers, “Military vacation~” or “Isn’t the army like a camp these days?”

“National Intelligence Service here.”

“…Pardon?”

“We’re arresting you on charges of defaming the military, slandering numerous young men in their twenties, and for routinely undermining military morale, suspecting you to be a North Korean spy.”

“W-why are you doing this to me?!”

This was what people called the “National Intelligence Service event.”

It wasn’t hard to see citizens, who debuffed soldiers, being grabbed by the hair, beaten with clubs, and thrown into the trunk of a car on the main street.

And now I was about to meet the virtual head of the Army.

“Better make a good impression… one wrong move and it’s straight to the NIS underground…!”

On top of that, fathers are generally doting when it comes to their daughters.

A boy that such an angelic daughter likes and brings home.

I was not likely to be welcomed.

In the midst of this chaos, the Chief of Staff of the South Korean Army, someone no division commander could compare to, finally appeared.

“Hmm!”

“…!”

“Hmm?”

He was like a giant mountain.

Even at my original height of 184 cm, I couldn’t help but swallow hard at the sight of a giant nearly touching the ceiling at around 2 meters.

As befits the military culture of this world, where rank equates to skill, his whole body was a muscular mass, and Sophia, held in one arm, looked so tiny.

Above all, he was an attractive middle-aged man, well-maintained to a degree that even another man would acknowledge.

It was only natural to feel intimidated by his overwhelming presence.

For a moment, I even thought about transforming into a monster and running away.

But then.

“Up you go!”

The Chief of Staff suddenly hugged me and lifted me to the same height as Sophia.

“When meeting someone for the first time, nothing beats introducing yourself with your rank and name!”

“Introducing myself?”

“Sigh, honey…”

“I am Chief of Staff, General Lee Seok-gyu. Who are you?”

It might have seemed forceful, but his clear eyes met mine on equal terms as he asked the question.

“I-I am Han Shin-woo!”

I responded energetically.

“A hearty response. I like it! Hahaha!”

The Chief of Staff laughed heartily, clearly pleased.

“You don’t have to struggle calling me ‘Father’ from the start. For now, just call me ‘Uncle’.”

“Yes, Uncle!”

“Hahaha. I like how well you follow instructions! When the time comes for you to join the army, I might just visit you in training camp as my foster son!”

The Chief of Staff’s enjoyable foster son training camp visit.

Just thinking about it made my heart swell.

In this world’s Korea, every adult over the age of 19 had to fulfill their national defense duties unless they became hunters.

“Our Sophia has American citizenship, so she doesn’t need to go, and she wants to be a hunter anyway.”

“That’s right! I’m going to be an amazing hunter like Mom!”

“Sophia… don’t you think being a great soldier like Dad would be good too?”

“No! If I become a soldier, I’d have to wake up super early! I can’t even eat what I want! And I can’t sleep whenever I want!”

“Well, that’s true…”

In this military family, the reality was that both his wife and daughter aspired to be hunters.

“Sniff…! A son!”

“Ah! Dad, let go! Shin-woo is mine!”

Perhaps, to Seok-gyu, who was shedding tears of joy, I was a sliver of hope since I, too, would be serving in the military.

A father who was overjoyed to the point of tears. His daughter, who was pulling his other cheek, claiming me as her own. And finally, a mother watching the scene with a smile.

“They’re so kind, even though we aren’t related by blood.”

In my original life, I had torn a ligament during my military service and ended up living in a villa.

Surely, this was a fake world that only existed in a game.

If this were just a fleeting dream, I wished it would never end.

“Finally, I can tell the division commanders to take good care of my child!”

Oh, and if I happen to fail the hunter exam and end up in the military, I preemptively apologize to my future division officers.

***

That evening.

“Sophia?”

“She fell asleep with Shin-woo.”

“Really?”

Hearing that his daughter, who usually avoided contact with anyone outside the family, had fallen asleep with a friend of the same age for the first time, Seok-gyu’s eyes widened.

Then, he let out a relieved chuckle and smiled.

But only for a moment.

“Hey, you know, honey.”

“Yes?”

In the kitchen, alone with his wife Rowling, Seok-gyu asked with a rather serious expression.

“Did you bring a ‘monster’ here?”