Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

015- Unfamiliar Ceiling

“It’s an unfamiliar ceiling.”

Reciting the line used in countless games as their opening phrase, Myung-Jun regained his consciousness. As he tried to stand up, he realized his head felt incredibly heavy.

It wasn’t the feeling of “heaviness” one gets from a headache or fatigue; it was as if his head was physically weighed down.

“What the…?”

Getting up from a makeshift bed that looked used, Myung-Jun reached out to his head.

He felt something large wrapped around it, almost alien-like, and was taken aback.

“Did they use this for first aid?”

He figured his senior must have treated him.

Much like the numerous inventions she had made, the makeshift treatment also had her unique touch of being “a bit off.”

After Myung-Jun had knocked himself out by running into a storage shelf, in her panic, she poured an entire bottle of disinfectant on his head.

Then, she wrapped Myung-Jun’s head, which was now soaked with blood and disinfectant, with dozens of towels and bandaged it securely as if mummifying it.

As a result, Myung-Jun now had what felt like several kilos of towel wrapped around his head, almost like a massive turban. Carefully trying to remove the turban from his head, dried blood and disinfectant pulled at his hair like adhesive.

Myung-Jun yanked off the weighty bundle of towels, and a sharp pain shot through his scalp accompanied by a squelching sound.

‘Damn, must’ve pulled out a chunk of hair.’

Fortunately, he wasn’t bleeding. Touching the scab on his head wound, Myung-Jun looked at the bed. There, Soo-jung was asleep, with tear stains evident on her face.

‘She looks pretty even when asleep, but her temperament is just…’

But he couldn’t abandon the plan now. Because he had already revealed his card, one of the few he has, the ‘Trait Altering Ability’, to her. After glancing at her sleeping form, Myung-Jun carefully got out of bed without waking her up and headed towards the sink he spotted nearby.

“First, I’ll wash my hair and face. If I go home like this, So-eun might kill her.”

Turning on the tap so it wouldn’t make much noise, Myung-Jun began to wipe off the blood, and soon he managed to clean it all off.

“Uhm…”

Then, Soo-jeong, who had been asleep, got up and looked around with a frantic expression, realizing Myung-Jun wasn’t there. She then saw Myung-Jun drying his hair with a towel and exclaimed,

“You’re awake?! How did you do that?! With the shield?! Holding it in your hand?! Huh?! Why is it working suddenly?! Are you a superhero?! Is your head, okay?! Is it bleeding?!”

“Senior! Calm down! Take deep breaths! Breathe!”

“Deep breaths?! Breathe in! Breathe out!! Breathe in! Breathe out!!”

Myung-Jun didn’t tell her, ‘Senior, that’s the breathing technique for childbirth.’

Anyway, she seemed somewhat calm.

“Alright, I’ve calmed down. Can I ask now?”

“Go ahead.”

“What did you do?”

“I was testing the shield you made, and I got thrown back and passed out.”

“That’s not what I’m asking. What did you do to my shield?”

“I did the necessary modifications for your shield to work.”

“Necessary modifications?”

“I adjusted the compression strength and tensile strength of the internal parts, enhanced their wear resistance and composition, and changed the weight of each part to improve the shield’s overall weight balance. Now, the shield will work as you intended. I doubt even Captain America’s shield is better than this one now.”

“You can do that?”

“You don’t believe me even after seeing it?”

“Believe You? I will trust you. Then, the second question. Exactly what can you do with that ability?”

“I can change the unique properties of materials. If desired, I can make a wooden chopstick stronger than titanium, and steel lighter than a feather.”

“The third question. Are there no restrictions on the use of that ability?”

“To explain that I would have to break the law.”

“What do you mean?”

“This ability was acquired when I was in the military, and the details of the process are protected as military secrets. If you were to disclose what I told you to someone else, I might be dragged back into the military.”

“I’ll keep it a secret.”

“It’s a bit hard to believe just by words.”

Upon hearing Myung-jun’s words, she pondered for a moment. She then asked Myung-jun to wait a moment and presented her smartphone. On her phone screen, there was the bank account of her personal account. Even without counting the zeros, Myung-jun could tell she had billions.

“Were you a chaebol (rich conglomerate owner)?”

“People always mock me for only making impossible inventions, but the technology that emerges from the process is real. And the royalties from a portion of that technology are no joke. The materials I use to make all these toys come from that bank account. But what I want to give you is not just an account with billions. It’s something much more valuable.”

“What is it?”

“A code to access my personal server,” Soo-jeong said.

“Since I was young, I’ve made thousands of inventions. And all those blueprints and data are stored in a personal server that is encrypted five times over. Remember when I mentioned that I receive royalties from a fraction of my technology? There are many more valuable technologies in my personal server. There are also many that are so dangerous they have to be sealed.”

“You store that online? What if someone hacks it?”

“Don’t worry. Among the technologies I’ve developed, there’s one that prevents anyone from hacking my data.”

“So, it’s like a treasure trove of unreleased technologies?”

“Yes. If you trust me, I’ll give you the access program and code right now. A code that, even my parents can’t access.”

“I don’t need it. I trust you.”

“Really?”

“Even if I see it, I won’t understand half the technology, so having it is meaningless.”

“But you could sell it and become incredibly rich, right? And among what I have, it’s the most precious thing. If you threaten to release that data if I don’t listen to you, I’ll have no choice but to comply. To me, those data are more precious than life.”

“I know. But I don’t need it. I didn’t come to you to get such a guarantee in the first place. If I didn’t think I could trust you, I wouldn’t have sought you out from the start. Besides, I don’t have a choice. You shouldn’t have even given me such options in the first place. And I’m confident that in the end, you’ll have no choice but to listen to me.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Because the existence of my ability will become the most precious thing to you, more than any data on your personal server.”

Hearing Myung-jun’s words, Soo-jeong pondered for a while and nodded.

“That’s true. No matter how great the technology I’ve developed is, it’s just a trick under the laws of physics. I don’t have any technology that can match your ability. Okay, even if it’s just a hunch that you have the ability I’ve always wanted, I’ll cooperate under any condition to obtain it. Even if I have to offer a sacrificial heart. What do you need to use that ability? The blood of a pure maiden? Or maybe the beating heart of a human sacrifice? Just tell me. Even if you need plutonium, give me time, and I’ll definitely present it to you.”

“It’s similar, but it doesn’t require the heart of a person. Although it is something similar from inside another creature.”

Myung-jun stood up from his seat and went to the shelf where Su-jeong was working. He then showed her the outer skin of a Rank 2 Monster he had discovered a little earlier.

“Senior, do you know what this is?”

“Huh? You know what that is?”

“What do you think this is, senior?”

“I’m not entirely sure. I got it from my mom, but I’ve heard it’s the skin of a strange lifeform that’s been spreading through rumours lately. It was discovered in the US, and apparently, it’s incredibly strong and lightweight. They sent it to me because they thought it might help with my research. Of course, even using this, I couldn’t have completed that shield.”

“So, you realize it’s impossible.”

“It’s definitely strong and lightweight, but the difficulty of processing it is just too high. Plus, if you make it as thin and small as the components in the shield, it will surely break. Its hardness is solid, but its elasticity is too weak. It’s a material that would break rather than bend.”

“This creature with the shell is called a monster. In simple terms, it’s a creature with a form that shouldn’t exist on Earth. What you have is the skin of a rank 2 Monster, and it can easily deflect bullets from a rifle.”

“Deflect bullets? Then how do you catch it?”

“You’ll need to use a .50 caliber bullet, as it can’t deflect those from an anti-material sniper rifle.”

Myung-jun explained what he knew about these alien forms: how they came to be, their purpose, and the treasures hidden within them. What Su-jeong was interested in was the information about the crystal.

“So, these mosnters have a shinning stone inside them called a crystal, and some of them give people special abilities when touched?”

“Simply put, yes. Stones without awakening ability are called crystals, and stones that can awaken are called awakening stones.”

“How do you differentiate the two?”

“Currently, we can’t. They look identical, and there’s too few of them reported. I think your mother might know about the crystals.”

“My mother?”

“Isn’t your mother a researcher at DARPA?”

“That’s right.”

“The US is probably already conducting detailed research on these monsters. They likely have secured many samples for research. That’s probably why they were able to send you the skin of a Rank 2 Monsters. Our country only has one reported case, so the military only has information on a Rank 1 Monster.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“Because my squad captured that Rank 2 Monster.”

Myung-jun detailed his experiences up to his discharge, excluding the fact that he had regressed. Su-jeong nodded in understanding and spoke to Myung-jun.

“So, Captain Moon Hee-chul suspects you might possess a trait-changing ability, and you successfully hid that fact until your discharge?”

“That’s correct.”

“So, has he dropped his suspicions now?”

“Probably not. The reason why I sought you out is precisely because of that.”

“Why is that?”

“I mentioned the crystal earlier, right? I need the energy from that crystal to use my ability. The problem is that to get the crystal, one must hunt these monsters, and the government is controlling all of those hunts.”

“Why not hunt in areas that aren’t well-known?”

“With what? Even with my trait-changing ability, hunting these alien forms is risky. I can’t face that terrifying monster with just a knife. In general, firearms are the most suitable weapon, but in South Korea, you need a license to buy a gun. Plus, if I try to get a firearms license, that information might reach Captain Moon Hee-chul.”

“So, you need a weapon to deal with this alien being without the country knowing? That’s why you came to me?”

“Roughly speaking, yes.”

“But what should I do? I don’t have a gun either.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. If we don’t have it, we can make it. All you need to do is lend me a workspace where I can work. In return, when I hunt down the monsters, I’ll make and give you some of the materials you need.”

“Any material I want?”

“Of course, if you want to not just change the material properties but also give it entirely new characteristics, you’ll need higher-grade crystals. If things go as planned and I can get Rank 7 or 8 crystals, then literally, I can make an object that emits electricity of a small nuclear reactor’s capacity from an empty space without any radioactive leakage. Or a metal that becomes colder down to absolute zero as it receives heat. And knowing you, I believe you can utilize such unique materials better than anyone in the world.”

Having said that, Myung-jun looked at her with a tense expression. After a long pause, her answer was a rejection, not permission.

“It won’t work.”

“Huh? You’re just lending a place?”

“It’s because of that. The conditions are too favourable for me. To be honest? I understand how Captain Mun Hee-cheol feels. If I could, I would lock you up right now and extract as much of the material I want. The ability you possess has the power to truly change the world. But you’re willing to share that power just in exchange for borrowing a space? You’ll take on all the risks associated with hunting the monster, and use the crystals you’ve risked your life for to make the materials I want? To anyone, that’s an incredibly unfair trade. From what I know, such an imbalanced relationship doesn’t last.”

“Are you saying……”

“Earlier, I checked your address book while deleting the photo on your phone. Cha Myung-jun. That’s your name, right?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, Myung-jun. This time I’ll propose something. I’ll set conditions such that just as I can’t abandon you, you can’t abandon me either.”

The ‘new condition’ she proposed was the very reason Myung-jun sought her out and the most critical negotiation card he wanted to obtain from her.

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