Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

160 – The Toughened Gate

After sending James, who had lost his foot in the battle against Grimpanther, back to the Liberator with the medical pod on Nautilus, Myung-jun moved to the military tent set up by the US military in the Grand Canyon. There, Soo-jeong and Skyler, having cleared up their misunderstanding through a one-on-one conversation while the US government requested an emergency meeting with other countries’ Awakener management organizations, were chatting amicably.

“It seems the misunderstanding has been resolved.”

“Well, it was an unavoidable situation. It looks like he couldn’t let Skyler down while fighting such a strong Awakener.”

Soo-jeong was in a good mood. Despite the increased difficulty of the gate, Myung-jun had returned unscathed, and through Skyler, she had heard in detail how powerful the beast-type combat system she designed was. This helped restore her pride, which had been shattered by the sight of the Dogfight being destroyed in the battle against Orion.

“Due to the urgency of the request, some countries are absent, but we have connected with the key officials from the major countries.”

“We’ve also called in all the instructors from Liberty City. Although they are currently on Icarus’s instructor duty, they are originally the top Awakeners from their respective countries.”

“How will the meeting be conducted?”

“The equipment brought by the US military is set up to connect only with the White House, so we’ll use the hologram sphere we brought for this meeting.”

Soo-jeong pointed to a round mechanical device on the table. The device, with multiple holes and emitting a soft LED light, hovered in the air without any propellers.

“Everyone is waiting for you. Shall we start now?”

When Myung-jun nodded, Soo-jeong lightly clapped her hands. Instantly, multiple beams of light shot out from the hovering device, projecting dozens of holographic screens around Myung-jun.

Facing the eyes of the heads of Awakener management organizations and world rankers from the frontlines of gate strategies, Myung-jun began to speak with a serious expression.

“Thank you for responding to this sudden meeting request. The reason I’ve called you all here is because a situation has arisen that could pose a significant threat to future gate strategies.”

The term ‘significant threat’ coming from the world’s strongest Awakener was enough to make everyone in the meeting tense. Even those who had been forced to attend the meeting in the middle of the night due to time differences were instantly wide awake.

With everyone’s attention focused on him, Myung-jun began to recount what he had experienced inside the gate.

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“So, you’re saying that even using a Striker, it would be difficult to clear the purple gate?”

Myung-jun nodded at the question from Suzuki Kentaro, the representative of Japan’s Awakener management organization, the Dungeon Agency.

“Based on my experience, the difficulty level of the purple gate is at least two grades higher than the existing black gates. This means that the Awakener formations used for 7th-grade gate strategies are ineffective against the purple gate.”

The existing formation Myung-jun referred to was a system that combined one Striker with four or more Awakeners for a 7th-grade gate strategy.

While deploying three Strikers simultaneously would ensure a more stable clear, it was inefficient given the scarcity of Strikers. Most countries opted to mix multiple Awakeners with a single Striker. However, if Myung-jun’s assessment was correct, even deploying three Strikers at once wouldn’t be enough to clear a purple gate, leaving the meeting participants deeply concerned.

The instructors from Liberty City, like the national representatives, wore serious expressions. At that moment, Orleans Perraudière, Europe’s strongest Awakener, raised his hand to ask a question.

“Myung-jun, you and I once faced the Overflow Boss Banara in the heart of the Amazon. Based on my abilities at that time, could I clear a 7th-grade purple gate?”

“If we’re talking about your abilities back then, it would be difficult. The biggest issue is that the enemies in the purple gate have durability and speed beyond imagination.”

Myung-jun explained that unlike an increase in the number or attack power of enemies, an increase in their defense posed a fundamentally different problem. If damage could be inflicted, increasing the volume of attacks could be a solution. However, if no damage could be inflicted at all, no means could bring down the enemy.

Orleans raised his hand again after hearing Myung-jun’s explanation.

“Then, based on my current abilities, could I clear a 7th-grade purple gate?”

“You could damage regular monsters, but taking down the boss would be challenging. While your attack power is sufficient to affect the boss, tanking would be difficult.”

“What about the members of the Liberal Clan?”

“Ho-chang could withstand the boss’s attacks and possibly tank, but his attack power is too low to deal significant damage. The ace attackers from the Liberal Clan might be able to inflict damage like you, but they would struggle with tanking.”

In Myung-jun’s judgment, the only individuals capable of clearing the heightened difficulty gates solo, regardless of party composition, were himself in the Elimination Suit, Lee Soo-bin with her eight halos for simultaneous offense and defense, and Park Byung-tae with Dogfight for evasion and attack.

Everyone else, possessing specialized abilities, would need to form well-balanced parties to clear a 7th-grade enhanced gate. This didn’t mean that the other Awakeners were weak. For instance, Edward Taylor, the top attacker of the Liberal Clan, could eliminate a boss in a single strike if given enough time to charge and aim his Blaze Spear. Orleans, too, could clear a 7th-grade enhanced gate with a capable tanking member.

Given the low occurrence rate of 7th-grade gates, Myung-jun didn’t see the strategy of high-grade gates as a major issue.

“The real concern isn’t the high-grade gates above 7th-grade but the lower-grade gates below 5th-grade.”

If the phenomenon of gates being enhanced to purple occurred in lower-grade gates, the current Awakener forces would be insufficient to handle them all. This explanation left the meeting participants deep in thought, their expressions grave.

However, since no brilliant solutions were forthcoming from their deliberations, most attendees were secretly hoping that Myung-jun would propose something innovative.

Whether it was proposing an upgrade plan for the Strikers that had been promised or significantly increasing the capacity of the Awakener Academy established by Myung-jun to train stronger Awakeners, the attendees were hoping for some innovative solutions. However, Myung-jun, noticing their expectant gazes, offered no additional suggestions. Instead, he seemed ready to conclude the meeting, as if his role was finished.

“Since the current situation has been explained, I believe each country’s Awakener management organization should prepare their own measures moving forward.”

At this, Thomas Kraus, the head of Germany’s Awakener management organization, the Hunter Support Department, urgently interjected.

“Please wait a moment. Are you planning to end the meeting like this?”

“Is there more to discuss? I believe I’ve done my part.”

“You’ve only conveyed the situation without providing any solutions.”

“You’ll have to find your own solutions. Whether the gate difficulty increases or not, it doesn’t matter to us. Whether we clear it solo or as a team, the Liberal Clan has plenty of members capable of tackling high-grade gates.”

“While that may be true for the Liberal Clan, other countries, including Germany, are not in such a fortunate position. Moreover, even if we form teams, all capable personnel are currently dispatched as instructors to Icarus.”

“So?”

Seeing the world’s strongest human looking at him with an expression that said, ‘What do you expect me to do about it?’ Thomas felt a suffocating frustration. At that moment, President Biden, who was attending the meeting beside Myung-jun, spoke in a soothing tone.

“Mr. Myung-jun, we all understand that the Liberal Clan, as a private organization not affiliated with any country, has no obligation to take responsibility for this situation. What we’re suggesting is that perhaps the Liberal Clan might find a way to offer some assistance in this crisis. Of course, we’re prepared to compensate you adequately.”

Leaning back comfortably in his chair, Myung-jun responded.

“Tell me specifically what you want.”

Wang Chengming, the head of China’s Awakener management organization, the Ministry of Abnormalities, spoke up.

“Could you increase the number of Strikers allocated to each country, even if just a little?”

Given the potential impossibility of clearing 7th-grade or higher gates with Strikers, the most reliable method was to deploy at least one Striker for 5th-grade gates and three or more for 6th-grade gates. However, unlike Japan and the US, which had ample allocations, China was set to receive only 18 Strikers. This meant China could simultaneously tackle only six 6th-grade gates or clear fewer than 18 5th-grade gates, marking the limit of their gate-clearing capacity.

“Of course, we are willing to pay for any additional orders. The most crucial thing right now is to prevent the overflow of gates,” Wang Chengming stated.

Nodding in agreement, representatives from other countries with even fewer allocated Strikers echoed his sentiment.

“France is in the same situation. Thirteen units are not enough to cover all the gates nationwide.”

“South Korea has it worse. We only have ten units.”

“Indonesia and the Philippines are in an even more dire situation, with only one unit each. A single Striker cannot possibly cover the enhanced gates occurring within their territories.”

Listening to the various representatives, who seemed to be treating the request for more Strikers as if it were a given, Myung-jun sighed deeply.

“More Strikers, huh…”

He then propped his feet up on the table in front of him and spoke.

“Do you think you’ve left them with us for safekeeping?”

The look on Myung-jun’s face clearly conveyed his firm stance: no additional Strikers would be provided beyond the promised quantities, no matter what they said.

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