My Platoon is Fucking Hopeless – Chapter 42

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“Roxana!”

At that moment, an elderly man in a snow-white gown came rushing out from the other side of the hallway. He wore a Ukrainian military uniform underneath and the patch on his shoulder clearly marked him as a military doctor.

However, I couldn’t recognize him at all. Despite my regular visits to the medical unit since my transfer, I had never encountered this doctor before.

I had heard there were only two doctors stationed at the battalion, hadn’t I? ‘Who is he?’ I wondered briefly, before Roxana scratched her head and looked at the old man.

“At least try to rest…!!”

“I told you I’ve completely recovered! Look, I just received mana replenishment and I’m perfectly fine, aren’t I?”

“What? Mana replenishment!?”

The old man hurriedly approached and abruptly checked my pulse. A faint but distinct mana was felt from his fingertips.

It was a sensation I had never felt before, but I knew he was checking the mana flowing through my veins.

“…Indeed. Roxana! What were you thinking doing such a thing?”

“He was showing symptoms of mana shock right in front of me! How could I just stand by and watch?”

Roxana replied in a firm voice. The old man, seemingly dumbfounded, let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head.

By the way, I had heard that Roxana had a serious heart condition, was she allowed to wander around like this?

“Wait, your affiliation is….”

“Second Lieutenant Enoch Levandal. I’ve been assigned to the battalion for about a month.”

“Enoch Levandal?! So you’re…”

The old man looked back and forth between Roxana and me, then clapped his hands together.

“Roxana’s new platoon leader!”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

As I inadvertently revealed my identity, Roxana’s green eyes locked onto my face. Her lips parted slightly in disbelief, and a thin voice escaped.

“Platoon Leader?”

“…I didn’t expect to meet you like this. It’s a pleasure, Sergeant Roxana.”

Indeed. Our first meeting was far from ordinary.

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“How did you even graduate from the officer academy?”

the old military doctor asked as he examined my body. He looked at me as if I were some strange creature.

“The military doctor of the 18th Infantry Regiment said something similar.”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a mage with such an abnormal body, including the mana core. It’s as if your body was modified solely for the purpose of using magic.”

That was probably the majesty of MAX ‘Combat Power Stat’.

I had to be good at fighting somehow, but my body was a mess with all kinds of debuff traits, which must have led to this deformed physique.

“Why do things like this keep happening? If my body was modified only for using magic, I should be experiencing mana deficiency symptoms even with the slightest exertion…”

“Have you never heard the military doctor’s opinion from your initial physical examination?”

Of course, I hadn’t. I woke up inside the 3rd Battalion barracks; there’s no way I’d have any memory of that.

When I answered with silence, the old military doctor tapped his forehead.

“It seems that even the conscription officers dispatched to the officer academy and the administrators who assess magical aptitude are all the same when it comes to not doing their jobs properly.”

He cleared his throat a couple of times and then, poking the area where my mana core was located with his finger, said,

“The reason you’re wasting mana excessively is quite obvious. Your mana core is in a severely hardened state.”

Hardened? Was he referring to the phenomenon of hardening? Fear gripped me as soon as I heard the word “hardened” in relation to my mana core from the military doctor.

Pulmonary hardening, body hardening… those were really serious diseases, weren’t they? Could it be that I had a terminal illness too…?

“Don’t look so serious. Mana core hardening is a surprisingly common occurrence. In fact, it can’t even be called a disease.”

“What exactly is mana core hardening?”

“Just like muscles become more flexible and stronger the more you use them, the same concept applies to the mana core. By the looks of it, you’ve never properly used magic before, have you?”

“Yes, that’s right…”

“Usually, when mana manifests, one starts using magic, even if it’s just a little. However, your mana core looks as though it hasn’t been used since then.”

So, there was such a backstory. Even though I became Enoch Levandal, I couldn’t know what happened before I possessed this body.

It had only been one month since I went from retired army officer Kim Jin-hyeok to active-duty magic officer Enoch Levandal. There were many small details within the world of Hearts of General that I hadn’t been able to grasp.

Who would care about things like mana core hardening or when someone first used magic in a strategy simulation game? It wasn’t even indicated in the status window!

“So, in the end, what mana core hardening means is…”

“It literally means that you’re trying to use muscles you haven’t used before, so you can’t use them properly, and the mana core itself doesn’t respond properly.”

“Your mana control must be poor too. That’s why mana is leaking from your body at a dangerous rate.”

Roxana, who had been sitting next to the military doctor, added to his explanation.

“To give a simple example, if a typical fireball requires 10 mana to use… your mana core uses 100, unnecessarily increasing the firepower of the spell. It’s an extremely inefficient mana control method.”

Hearing those words made it all click. Until now, I thought I was just incompetent, but it turns out I was destined to be incompetent.

I lowered my head and looked at the mana core, which was faintly emitting mana. Damn it, what kind of situation was this?

“But the strange thing is, if your mana core was truly like that, you should’ve fallen into a deficient state after using magic just once or twice.”

“That’s right.”

“The capacity and density of your mana core are abnormal. I’ve been around for a long time, and I’d love to dissect your mana core.”

The military doctor casually uttered chilling words.

“What?!”

“Just kidding. Though I am curious.”

Wasn’t this guy a complete psycho? At first, I thought he was just a kind old man, but hearing that made him seem like a mad doctor who had seen it all….

Feeling uneasy, I quickly changed the subject.

“Oh, right, is Sergeant Roxana alright? According to what you’ve said, replenishing my mana core to a certain extent would require a tremendous amount of mana…”

As soon as I collapsed, it was thanks to Roxana’s timely mana replenishment that I was able to move like this.

If it weren’t for her, I would have been lying on the floor until someone came out of the medical unit or soldiers came up for something.

That meant I’d sucked the mana out of someone as frail as me, didn’t it? I wanted to return it if possible. The doctor said there wouldn’t be any major problems now, right?

“It’s alright, no need to worry. I know Roxana’s condition best. I was worried too, but it seems she managed it well.”

“…Managed it?”

“Roxana has a more serious problem with her mana core than you do.”

Mana Heart Disease.

A congenital disease where the mana core and the heart, which should be separate, are fused together at birth.

Since the heart performs the functions of the mana core, the density, quality, and efficiency of mana are incomparable to other mages. However, if too much mana accumulates, exceeding the heart’s capacity, or if too much mana is consumed, leaving the heart unable to sustain itself, it leads to death.

Sergeant Roxana Elim was in such a state.

“Because of this, Roxana joined the army purely for treatment. There’s nowhere else she can receive and discharge mana besides the Magic Battalion.”

So that was why the special notes in the document I saw earlier said to let her stay in the medical unit as much as possible. The pieces of the puzzle fit together, and I readily agreed.

However, Roxana herself didn’t seem pleased with the military doctor’s explanation.

“Uncle Edward! We agreed you wouldn’t say it like that!”

“Shouldn’t you at least tell the platoon leader the truth?”

“No, I didn’t come here just for treatment.”

Roxana approached me. Her emerald eyes twinkled softly.

“I can do it too…! You just saw, Platoon Leader! I can be of help!”

She actively appealed her usefulness. I could recall a conversation I had overheard between Bell and Lumia.

Roxana overexerted herself during the last training session and is currently in the medical unit.

I brushed it off at the time, but now that I think about it, it meant a person with a heart condition participated in training normally. A Mana Heart Disease patient in training? That was completely insane.

“Sergeant Roxana.”

“Please don’t say that, Platoon Leader. I can take care of myself.”

“Didn’t you say you were taken to the medical unit during training last time…?”

“Th-that was…!!”

As if I had struck a nerve, Roxana’s assertive energy subsided.

“I admit I pushed myself too hard then…. They said it was an important training exercise where all battalion members would participate, so I did a bit more than usual…”

Honestly, her enthusiasm was admirable. When I first heard about Roxana through the documents, I hadn’t considered her as a combat asset at all.

But now that I’d met her, Roxana was more daring and motivated than I had imagined.

To the point that it was hard to believe she was someone who had been confined to the medical unit and on the verge of death just a few weeks ago.

What kind of officer would dislike a subordinate who was willing to push themselves to the limit?

However, there’s a big difference between simply pushing oneself and risking death.

“It’s not that I want to exclude you, Roxana. You’re also a valuable member of my platoon. However, it’s true that your current physical condition is dangerous.”

Enthusiasm was good, but as the platoon leader, it was more important to me that accidents didn’t happen. If she pushed herself and really ended up on the verge of death, it wouldn’t just be Roxana’s problem.

At my words, Roxana bit her lip. She tried her best to compose herself, lowering her head.

“U-Understood.”

“However.”

“…?”

Her head shot up as I added another sentence.

“Military doctor, you’re saying Sergeant Roxana’s discharge is possible, correct?”

“That’s right.”

“As long as it doesn’t put too much strain on her heart. Regardless of training, I’d like her to return to our platoon and live with us again.”

“Really?”

Her gloomy expression brightened instantly. It felt like watching a puppy whose emotions depended entirely on its owner’s words.

‘At least the squad members seem to get along. The barracks have been newly renovated, and they should spend some time together.’

I properly put on my half-removed top and then approached the pink-haired sergeant, extending my hand.

“It’s a pleasure to formally meet you, Sergeant Roxana Elim. I’m Second Lieutenant Enoch Levandal, assigned as your platoon leader.”

“Ah…! I, I’m…!”

She grabbed my hand and burst into a bright smile.

“Sergeant Roxana Elim! Pleased to meet you!!!”

There had been several incidents along the way, but now, finally, all the squad members were gathered.

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