My Platoon is F**king Hopeless

“Sergeant!! Are you planning to disobey orders again! If this continues, there will be another punishment!”

When Sergeant Claude Rain burst out of the tent, an angry voice followed.

I turned my head and looked inside the tent. It was a man, not yelling loudly but with slight wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

Three diamonds embroidered on his epaulettes.

Captain rank.

He was the platoon leader.

Claude Rain sighed, turned his body, and left down the corridor as if I didn’t exist at all.

“To hell with giving me a punishment or not, do whatever you want.”

The curse word stuck sharply in my ear. I stared blankly at the stairs where the sergeant had vanished instantly.

What did I just see?

Even though I saw it with my own eyes, I couldn’t believe the situation.

Of course, it was rare for a non-commissioned officer to talk back to a captain-level officer, but it wasn’t entirely unheard of.

But to openly defy like this?

-Demotion by one rank for assaulting a superior officer.

A sentence written in Sergeant Claude Rain’s personnel file flashed through my mind.

“He was a tough guy if he did something.”

From the lack of alcohol smell, he seemed to be sober.

Real war heroes are different from the start.

In the midst of a sudden storm, as I stood dumbfounded, Lumina next to me fidgeted anxiously.

“I’m, I’m sorry, Lieutenant. I’ll make sure to tell Sergeant Claude…”

“It’s fine. I’ve already roughly confirmed what kind of person he is from the documents.”

Honestly, how could a sergeant intimidate a senior sergeant?

Especially when that sergeant was a former master sergeant who was demoted after serving in combat.

Anyway, it’s spilled water.

Given my current abilities, I couldn’t do anything about it now, so it wasn’t the time to worry about Sergeant Claude.

I entered the tent as if nothing had happened and saluted the platoon leader properly.

“Honor to the motherland!”

“Honor to the motherland.”

The platoon leader had a flushed face. Despite looking very angry, he responded appropriately to my salute and sighed.

“Puhh…”

“Sorry.”

An apology immediately escaped my mouth.

It was a result of my mouth moving faster than my thoughts.

Although there was nothing particularly to apologize for, it was better to lower my head first in such situations.

“What are you apologizing for? You just arrived yesterday.”

“I’ve just been appointed as the platoon leader today, so the commotion just now is entirely my responsibility, isn’t it?”

“…Forget it. There’s no need to unnecessarily score points and say things you don’t mean.”

The platoon leader clicked his tongue at my response.

“Captain Arrendt Schultz. You’re the platoon leader.”

“I’m Enok Revendale.”

“Surprisingly, you seem quite calm?”

“I’ve already seen everything in the documents.”

I hadn’t expected it to be this serious.

I slightly turned my head and looked at the open entrance of the tent.

“You’ve seen everything in the documents?”

“Yes.”

“But you didn’t have any thoughts?”

“Now that I see it, I feel it will be quite difficult to lead them.”

I told him exactly what I felt. At this, Captain Arrendt’s eyebrows twitched.

“Hmm…”

His entire face was rigid, making him look unmistakably like a soldier.

While Claude Rain appeared overall fierce, this side seemed more strict and stubborn.

Judging from his words and demeanor, I strongly sensed that this would be an FM-style platoon leader.

“Well, now that the fifth platoon has a new platoon leader, we were thinking of gathering and discussing things, but… with this atmosphere.”

The woman sitting on the sofa inside the tent shrugged her shoulders and added, picking up on the platoon leader’s resigned tone.

“That uncle acts recklessly all the time. I wonder why they haven’t discharged him yet.”

Her jet-black short hair was striking even under the dim lighting, and her red eyes stood out beneath her brows.

‘That person from the documents…’

I easily recalled her name.

Sergeant Bella Meyer, a member of the platoon.

“There’s no need to be too afraid of the platoon leader. He usually expresses his anger this way. It’s not just directed at the platoon leader or the company commander…”

As she slapped her knees and stood up, Bella Meyer’s overall appearance caught my eye.

She was about 15 cm shorter than me, but what caught my attention was her figure showing through her baggy uniform.

Gulp.

I involuntarily swallowed a dry lump.

‘No, no.’

I quickly erased the thought from my mind.

If I got caught, I might be mistaken for someone strange.

“Well, I’ll leave it to you. I’m Bella Meyer, and you can call me Bella casually.”

Bella smiled with a lively voice.

I had assumed she had depression or some mental illness, but she was surprisingly normal.

“My name is Enok Revendale.”

“Close up, you look even better.”

Oddly, there was a sticky quality to her voice that made me feel increasingly uncomfortable.

It didn’t seem intentional, but someone with strong mental fortitude like me could have fallen for it with just that one sentence.

This is a soldier, not a succubus.

“By the way, where is Private Roxanna Elrim?”

I quickly changed the subject, and this time Captain Arrendt replied.

“She’s in the infirmary. It’s best not to worry too much about that girl. She fainted during training a few days ago and had to be carried out after two days.”

“…She tries hard, but it doesn’t seem easy. Each time, it’s really heartbreaking.”

Crazy.

Then why haven’t they discharged her and left her alone?

Even the notoriously reluctant South Korean military would discharge such a patient unanimously.

‘So this is why the country is doomed…’

This is why it’s only natural for the country to be destined for destruction in the game.

With such a depleted force, they’re even reluctant to discharge patients.

‘Crap.’

There was no point in saying what I wanted to say out loud.

If they wanted to pick a fight, they would have done it already. Since I’ve decided to comply somewhat, it would be funny to start complaining now.

“So it’s like that.”

“So it is…”

Yes, even if one person is a ghost, it won’t change anything.

I just need to prove my capabilities and prepare for the great war five years from now.

Captain Arrendt seemed to understand my mood and shook his head.

“Forget about Sergeant Claude. Even if they punish him, he’s the kind of person who would go to prison and come back without much fuss.”

“Then you’re just going to forget about it?”

“There’s no other choice.”

The captain’s face looked complicated. After all, he was also the one who took on this demoralized platoon.

He’s no less unlucky than I am.

Still, his FM-like personality didn’t change, and he soon changed his expression and extended his hand to me.

“Welcome to the 2nd Battalion, 5th Platoon Leader.”

“Thank you.”

This was the beginning of a second military life that couldn’t be called smooth.

*

Today marks the seventh day since I got sucked into the world of Hearts of General by incorrectly unlocking a mode.

My room, which had been empty except for basic furniture, was now filled with various books and manuscripts.

Since possessing this world, I realized my biggest flaw.

There are five branches in Haotzhe. One is unlocked in the late game, so let’s exclude that.

Infantry armed with muskets and bayonets.

Cavalry armed with pistols and swords.

Artillery using cannons.

And lastly, the branch I belong to, the Mage Infantry.

In simple terms, it feels like a magic user directly transformed into a military unit—someone who was a modern person just a few days ago couldn’t know anything.

Except for tactical strategies and military magic names that can be learned in the game.

It’s natural that I don’t know how real magic works or how to use it.

Shock, bizarre) To enlist voluntarily and then not know how to use magic as a mage officer?!

I was already assigned to an unusual platoon, and if I didn’t know magic either, I’d be branded as a fool in no time.

I had spilled my guts to the battalion commander and the company commander. If they found out, it would be a definite downfall.

So, for nearly two days, I stayed in my room, aside from doing daily officer summaries and brief meetings with the soldiers, to acquire relevant knowledge.

Fortunately, due to my insomnia trait, my sleep time was forcibly reduced, allowing me to read all the books I brought in two days.

Now that the theory is complete, it’s time to put it into practice.

‘First… concentrate. Feel the flow of the Maru in the area near your heart.’

I slowly pondered the content from the book and placed my hand on my heart. This was the ritual known as ‘activation.’

Awakening the dormant Maru.

Soon, a warm energy could be felt from the heart. A faintly flickering flame-like energy.

This must be the ‘Maru.’

The only organ capable of producing and storing the special energy, Mana, used for casting magic.

Generally nonexistent and undetectable in ordinary people, it is a crucial element for Mage Infantry, as important as the heart.

‘If you feel the Maru, draw up the Mana stored within it. Not forcefully expelled, but naturally released like breathing.’

“Gwuuu… Hooooh.”

After taking a deep breath, the Mana that escaped from the Maru wrapped around my body instantly.

It was a strange sensation I had never experienced in my lifetime, yet somehow familiar.

‘Reconstruct it into the form you imagine. Give it one of the five properties inherent in nature along with its physical characteristics.’

The first thing that came to mind was the most basic spell, ‘Fireball.’

It was also the spell most commonly used early on in the game when supporting Mage Infantry.

‘Shape it into a sphere… Physical property should be explosive, color should be red.’

Whooosh!

As soon as I imagined it, a large ball of fire appeared before my eyes.

A real Fireball. Casting a spell I had only seen in the game.

“Whoa!! What a surprise!”

But I didn’t expect the magic to unfold so quickly, and my surprised shout triggered it.

The Fireball, already formed as a magical entity, was launched into the air.

“Huh?”

I instinctively tried to stop the casting, but the magic had already left my hand.

“Shit!”

Boom!!!

With a huge noise, the entire room was overturned.

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