Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

164 – Individual Thoughts

After the Grand Canyon summit, various governments began to adopt the revised Awakener management laws as suggested by Myung-jun. The new legislation primarily transferred the management authority of Awakener clans, previously under government control for national interests, to the private sector.

Simultaneously, the Liberal Clan announced the partial release of their Awakener equipment manufacturing technology to the world, causing a seismic shift in the global Awakener industry.

「US defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are pushing to establish a joint military-industrial complex, ‘Armstech,’ for the production of new power armor.」

「Japanese corporate consortium ‘Masamune Hi-Tech,’ established for Striker production, unveils the concept for the new power armor series ‘Kabuto,’ based on technology released by the Liberal Clan.」

「Hanwha Defense and KAI (Korea Aerospace Industries) announce plans to produce the active Korean power armor ‘Plasma Guardian,’ claiming a 15% performance improvement over other power armors by applying proprietary enhancements using monster-processed materials.」

It didn’t take long for global defense companies and major corporations to announce their own power armors incorporating the technology released by the Liberal Clan. Even before the blueprints were made public, most companies had been attempting to produce power armor for gate assaults at the behest of their respective governments.

However, most of these power armors were inferior imitations, reverse-engineered from the power armors that the Liberal Clan had previously sold to the public when they were based in Sejong City. Even if they replicated the internal components by dismantling the armor, matching the durability of the frames and armor made by Myung-jun was nearly impossible. Furthermore, the core components of power armor, such as motion sensors and power packs, were equipped with safety mechanisms that caused internal components to explode if tampered with.

As a result, most power armors produced by national defense contractors and government agencies outside the Liberal Clan failed to perform adequately. Consequently, companies focused on producing auxiliary parts to attach to existing power armors or reinforcing them with additional armor made from higher-grade materials.

However, the release of the Liberal Clan’s power armor manufacturing technology completely overturned the market dynamics. The core technologies for motion sensors and power packs, which had been the most challenging components to develop, were now available. This meant that any company could produce high-quality power armor with performance similar to those previously sold by the Liberal Clan.

Moreover, with the transfer of Awakener affiliations from government control to the private sector and the increasing proportion of ‘Purple Gates’—whose difficulty levels made power armor essential for assaults—the civilian power armor market quickly became recognized as the world’s most valuable emerging market.

The massive capital movement was akin to a sixth industrial revolution, precisely the outcome Myung-jun had envisioned.

“Vietnam’s largest conglomerate, Vingroup, has also announced plans to produce power armor,” said Edward Taylor, an Awakener from the Liberal Clan, as he read the newspaper.

Myung-jun smiled and replied, “Power armor, when you break it down, is essentially a mainframe with a motion sensor, a power pack, and external armor. With the manufacturing technology for the two most challenging components now available, it’s only natural that many companies are jumping into production.”

“Do you think the ones they produce will perform adequately?”

“They will perform adequately. However, no matter how much effort they put in, it will be impossible to match the performance of the new power armor that Senior Soo-jeong and I are developing. If the technology we released is considered first-generation, the power armor we are currently producing is at least third-generation.”

“Is there a significant difference between the versions?”

“The first-generation power pack supplies just enough power to operate the mainframe, but starting from the third generation, it provides surplus power that can be used for armaments. The power efficiency has also been greatly improved, allowing for thicker and heavier armor to be equipped even with the same output core. The motion sensor’s performance has been enhanced to accurately replicate desired movements with even the slightest muscle twitch from the user.”

“If the goal is to raise the average level of equipment used by humanity, wouldn’t it be better to release the third-generation power armor manufacturing technology?”

“The components required for third-generation production have a very low yield, even with the production facilities in Liberty City. If other companies attempt to produce them, they might only achieve one successful unit out of every 20,000. That’s why the training of the current batch of production-type Awakeners is crucial.”

With that, Myung-jun stood up. It was time to start the ‘training’ of the numerous production-type Awakeners who had enrolled in Icarus specifically to attend his classes. This was another part of Myung-jun’s ‘backup plan’ to save humanity from the increasingly powerful threats from the outer universe.

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“My name is Gridel Reinhardt. I’m from Leipzig, Germany, and I graduated top of my class in Electrical Engineering from Heidelberg University. I’m an Awakener of the Blacksmith class, currently at Grade 5.”

“Grade 5, huh…”

“That’s impressive. No wonder German equipment is so outstanding…”

As the man introduced himself as a Grade 5 blacksmith-type Awakener, the other applicants around him murmured in admiration. Unlike combat-class Awakeners who grew stronger through battles, production-class Awakeners were known for the difficulty in raising their grades.

In such a context, the presence of an Awakener capable of processing Grade 5 materials stood out among the many applicants. However, to Myung-jun, who had been the world’s only Grade 12 Master Blacksmith before his regression, these Grade 5 students still seemed like rookies at best.

After listening to all the students’ introductions, Myung-jun stood up and picked up a hammer. “Alright, let’s begin the training. The materials in front of you are Grade 6 monster materials provided by the academy for educational purposes. Listen carefully to the processing methods and follow them exactly.”

The students looked at Myung-jun in disbelief. Despite the highest-grade student among them being only Grade 5, Myung-jun was asking them to process Grade 6 materials.

“Excuse me, but even I, the highest-grade student here, can barely process Grade 5 materials. Most of the students here are Grade 3. How can you expect us to process Grade 6 materials?”

Gridel’s protest was understandable. Processing monster materials was a delicate task where a single mistake could render the entire material unusable. Additionally, attempting to process materials above one’s grade meant forfeiting all system guides and class bonuses, which was a significant risk.

However, Myung-jun explained that relying on the system to process monster materials was fundamentally flawed. “You’ve probably relied on the class assist system to process monster materials so far. It tells you what temperature to heat the material to, for how long, and which parts to strike with what force, just like a game UI.”

“Exactly. Without that information, processing monster materials is nearly impossible.”

“But if you know the precise details, even a non-Awakener can perform the process manually. Of course, given the nature of the process, where even the slightest error can lead to failure, the chances of making mistakes are extremely high.”

Having spent over 30 years hammering away before his regression, Myung-jun could manually handle all aspects of material processing without any system assist. He could determine how much more to heat a material just by observing its color, the optimal speed for quenching, and the exact force and location to strike. He continued to apply this knowledge even now.

For the students, who had always relied on the numbers and information displayed before them, this seemed impossibly difficult. But for Myung-jun, it was second nature.

“Don’t rely on the numbers and information in front of you. Develop the ability to assess the state of the material itself. If you can apply the right force at the right time with precision, you can process materials far above your class grade.”

“But it will require a lot of failures to get used to it. The expensive monster materials used in the process will all go to waste. Is there a reason to take such a risk and do everything manually?”

Gridel Reinhardt asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. Myung-jun smiled and tossed his hammer lightly into the air.

“Mr. Reinhardt, have you ever tried processing materials two grades higher than your own, manually, without using your class abilities?”

“Of course not. Those expensive monster materials can’t be wasted so recklessly.”

“Then it’s understandable that you don’t know. All production activities in the production class come with an experience bonus for manual work. And the amount of this bonus far exceeds the experience you would gain from the materials consumed in the failure process. If you succeed in processing materials higher than your grade consecutively, you can achieve an increase in grade that’s close to a ‘level explosion.’ That’s the kind of level-up method I want for you all.”

“But if our grade is low, we can’t even figure out how to process high-grade materials. Unless someone who already knows the processing methods for those materials teaches us step by step…”

Gridel trailed off, realizing the man playing with the hammer in front of him was the world’s only blacksmith capable of processing materials above Grade 8. Myung-jun nodded as he saw the understanding dawn on Gridel’s face.

“Exactly. As you mentioned, this kind of level-up method requires someone who has completely mastered the processing recipes for higher-grade materials. And I am the only person who can provide you with those exact recipes.”

At that moment, Myung-jun effortlessly caught the hammer that he had tossed high into the air.

“Oh, it won’t be easy, of course. The higher the grade of the monster material you’re processing, the more difficult it becomes. For materials like the Grade 6 ones that Mr. Reinhardt will be working on, you’ll need to eliminate errors down to the millisecond.”

With a mischievous smile that seemed to make the onlookers uneasy, he continued, “It might be so challenging that you’ll question why you ever awakened as a production-class Awakener. But I believe you will all excel. By the end of this training, you will be able to handle materials of at least Grade 7 as easily as kneading dough, becoming the best blacksmiths in the world, unmatched by anyone.”

Behind Myung-jun, a framed quote he had handwritten glowed brightly, reading, ‘Patience bears the sweetest fruit.’ It overlooked the students, reminding them of the importance of perseverance.

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