Descent of the Demon Master

job everyone else had been trying to avoid with religious zeal, and what did the higher-ups do? They ordered Jo Won-Gu and his men to go back to the mountain and cut five large trees down, then bring the logs back to the base.

Jo Won-Gu continued to grumble.
“They ain't even gonna take responsibility if one of my boys gets hurt, so what the hell…”

Cutting a tree down wasn’t that hard at all.
The higher-ups tossed the squad a rusty saw, but these boys had grit and determination to spare.
Five or more trees didn't even matter.
What did matter, though, was trying to drag those five large logs down the mountain.

One slip-up somewhere, and their lives would be in danger.

“Uh-whew. Goddamned it…” Jo Won-Gu groaned in irritation.
Curses jumped out of his mouth all by themselves, but in the army, you simply had no choice but to do what you were told.

“Serg, how about this tree over here?”

“Yeah, sure.
Let's cut that one down.” Jo Won-Gu stood next to the tree while holding the saw.
He would leave the back-breaking work to his juniors, but as the squad commander, it was his job to deal with the dangerous tasks.
“Keep pushing, okay? I don't want my saw to get stuck.”

“Yes, Serg.”

The squad members began pushing the upper part of the tree.
Jo Won-Gu gritted his teeth and began sawing the lower part with all of his strength.
Eventually, he felt totally drained about halfway through.
“Someone, switch with me.”

“Let me do it, sir.” Jeon Hyeok-Su volunteered and took over the saw's handle.

Jo Won-Gu took a couple of steps back and looked up, only for his head to tilt to the side in uncertainty.

'Huh? That looks like it might get stuck?'

The most dangerous moment while cutting down a tree was when said tree was about to fall to the ground.
The normal way to do things was to push the tree in the direction you wanted it to fall while sawing away.
However, branches would sometimes get tangled, resulting in the tree falling in unexpected directions.
That was how accidents usually started.

“Hey, you brats.
Be careful.
Looks like it's gonna get stuck at this rate.”

“Yes, Serg!” the squad members replied while flexing their arms and pushing the tree.

When the tree was cut about two-thirds of the way through, Jo Won-Gu's anxiety level began to creep higher and higher.
“Hey, keep pushing!”

“Serg, this thing isn't even budging!”

“I get it, so keep pushing as hard as you can!”

“Yes, sir!”

The squad members followed his order and continued to saw away, but the tree showed no signs of toppling over even as it was almost fully cut through.

'I think the branches got snagged somewhere up there…'

Jo Won-Gu glared up, wondering if they had to give up on this tree and move on to another one.
Although it would be a waste to throw away all the hard work they had put in, that was still a hundred times better than his squad members getting injured in a mishap.

“Damn it.
Hey, you lot! We better…”

“Serg, it's falling!”

Before Jo Won-Gu could stop the work, the tree began tilting in the direction they wanted.

Jo Won-Gu looked up and muttered, “Oh, that's a reli—”

But then…

The tree, with its branches all tangled up, suddenly rolled to the side and began falling in the wrong direction.

“G-get out of the way, you idiots!” Jo Won-Gu freaked out and yelled.

Unfortunately, the squad members momentarily froze at the sight of the falling tree above their heads and could only stare at it in a daze.

“Goddamned it!” Jo Won-Gu tried to dash forward, only for a humongous thunderclap of noise to shake him up.

BAAAANG!!!

The falling tree suddenly went airborne, then landed somewhere safe with a loud thud.

“What the hell?”

What was that? Jo Won-Gu urgently rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
Did he just witness a large falling tree…
momentarily fly? A tree that big?

Despite choosing a tree that looked 'light' enough for people to carry down the mountainside, it should still weigh at least over 200kg.
But, such a tree still went flying?

Jo Won-Gu's disbelieving gaze slowly turned to catch the sight of Kang Jin-Ho withdrawing his outstretched leg.
“…Jin-Ho, did you, uh, just kick that thing?”

Kang Jin-Ho nonchalantly nodded.
“Yes, sir.”

“…You really did?”

“Yes, sir.”

‘Aha, so you did, eh? What a wonderful way to deal with the situation.
Next time, I'll also kick a falling tree out of the way.
Then, it's gonna go flying and land far away.’

“Are you bloody kidding me?! You punkin' me or what?!” Jo Won-Gu blew his top.
He didn't want to believe what he had seen, but did he even have a choice in the matter?! Before he could start his rant, however—

“Holy sh*t! That could've been bad!”

“Gee whiz, we dodged a bullet there! If it wasn't for those branches getting snagged up there, we'd all be marching straight into the infirmary by now!”

Jo Won-Gu was left dumbfounded by his squad members' declarations and had to ask them for clarification, “Wait, what? The branches got snagged?”

“Yes, Serg.
The tree got snagged right up there, you see? And it went whoosh and fell.”

Jo Won-Gu helplessly chuckled at that.
Did these meatheads not learn physics at school?! Just because some branches got caught, a falling tree would suddenly go airborne?!

“Maybe I was mistaken…”

Indeed, he had definitely mistakenly thought that the tree had gone airborne.
It had probably just gotten snagged by the branches of the nearby trees and rolled around before falling somewhere safe.
In the middle of this process, a brave idiot named Kang Jin-Ho tried to kick the falling tree at coincidentally the perfect timing.
That had to be it!

Jo Won-Gu quietly muttered to himself, “Yeah, even I can tell that was horsesh*t…”

“Did you say something, Serg?”

“Nah. Don't mind me.” Jo Won-Gu spat out a lengthy groan.

'Maybe I'm not feeling well?'

He couldn't tell whether he was genuinely mistaken or if he simply wanted to believe otherwise.

“In any case, Serg? Shouldn't we keep going, sir? I mean, we're supposed to cut five trees, right?”

“Sure, whatever.”

Jo Won-Gu waved his hand dismissively.

‘Do whatever you want, fellas…’

Having lost his willingness to work, Jo Won-Gu sat down by the base of a tree and pulled out a cigarette.

***

Jeon Hyeok-Su cautiously addressed Jo Won-Gu, “…Serg, that dude can't be a human being, sir.”

“You think so, too?”

“I mean, a human being should know where to draw the line, right? Sir?”

“Yeah, totally.”

The duo was staring at the logs being carried down the mountainside right before their eyes, unable to think of anything else to say.

When trying to carry a log down a mountain, you often had no choice but to drag it from the front.
Some might wonder why you wouldn’t try to roll it down the slope, but that was practically impossible when trees and plants grew in dense patches in the wilderness.
Not to forget, the mountain terrain itself was too uneven for that.
So, the normally-accepted way was for a person to lift the front of the log, leave the rear on the ground, then carefully drag it forward.

The thing was, though…
This task was definitely not easy, and it was prone to accidents, as well.
So, someone had to stay nearby at all times and switch positions regularly.
That was how it was supposed to be, but now…

“…That brat is definitely weird, sir.”

“You think so, too?”

Anyone would come to the same conclusion as Jeon Hyeok-Su after witnessing a normal-looking person carrying three logs under one arm and two more under the other arm while leisurely going down the mountainside!

Jo Won-Gu muttered quietly, “Even though those trees had to weigh over a ton combined…”

Since the rear of the logs was being dragged on the floor, the actual combined weight wouldn't be that heavy, but that still didn't change the simple fact that a single person couldn't carry that much.
At least, that was what Jo Won-Gu's common sense told him.

Kang Jin-Ho had been watching his seniors trying to drag the trees only to get caught often in the unevenness of the ground and stumble around.
As if he couldn't endure this sight anymore, he suddenly stepped up, took over all five logs before placing them under his armpits, then began carrying them by himself.

…All the while looking like he was out on a pleasant Sunday stroll, no less!

“Hey, Hyeok-Su?”

“Corporal Jeon Hyeok-Su, sir.”

“Buy some nice frozen foods for that guy in the evening, okay? And…”

“Sir?”

“Call the infirmary and tell them that I want to get admitted there for a while.
Tell them that I'm beginning to see things.”

“…Serg, I think I should join you, too.”

Today, Jo Won-Gu had found another reason why he couldn't wait for his eventual discharge from the army.

1.
“Serg” is a shortened form of “sergeant.” ☜

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