Matchlocks and Northern Expedition (8)

My prediction had hit the mark without the slightest error.

The moment I arrived at my new post, I had to endure severe abuse from the junior military officers.

“Newbie Ghost (short for New Recruit Ghost).”

“Sayong! Kim! Jong-sin!”

“Where did you leave your common sense? Did you specifically drop it into some cesspit?”

“I’m sorry!”

“Does being sorry bring an end to a military official’s career? Even if we are at war, the court’s budget is generous, and this place is right near Hanyang. Shouldn’t you at least have come properly prepared for your initiation ceremony? But what is this?”

A military official in his mid-forties kicked me hard in the shin.

For the first time in my life, I got what they called a “joint”—a kick to the shin.

Even a rotten sardine is still a sardine, and since he had passed the military examination, his kick hurt so badly that I wondered whether my shin had actually broken...