Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

018 – Contact

“Hahaha! So, the tough titanium is being cuts like tofu!”

“Senior, you sound like a demon king from a video game.”

“I don’t care! I’m feeling on top of the world right now! See this? How this sturdy component gets carved out in a flash? If I had this cutting tool earlier, I could’ve created inventions tenfold!”

“Then this warehouse would’ve had ten times more defective products.”

“Defective products? Perhaps up to a point, but now these won’t be considered defects. I have the most powerful material generator in the world that can ignore the laws of physics and magically alter the attribute of materials.”

Pondering if it was a demotion or promotion from being a lover to a material generator, Myung-jun gave up on his dilemma and began finishing his work.

Even master craftsmen like Myung-jun, who had been working for decades, always needed to perform finishing works on castings.

Myung-jun used a grinder to smooth out the rough surfaces and drilled where small holes were required. It was more stable to drill holes after processing the whole piece rather than during the casting stage to ensure durability.

“Hold on, are you sure you haven’t done this before?”

“I told you, right?”

“Even if you acquired knowledge through abilities, your skills with the grinder are too proficient. It’s as if you’ve worked with metal for decades.”

“I’m only 22. How could I have been working with metal for decades? Would that mean I started hammering inside my mother’s womb?”

“That’s the point. It seems strange. I’ve surely handled metal much more than you, so why does your work look more experienced?”

“Well, maybe I had a natural talent in this field. Or perhaps when I acquired the ability, I also gained the sensation of handling metal.”

“Right. That makes the most sense. Are the parts ready?”

“I’ve just finished.”

“Me too. Let’s assemble it.”

Because Soo-jeong changed the design making the internal structure quite complicated, she took over the assembly of the components.

She assembled countless parts in order, flawlessly, as if she had a blueprint in her mind.

Once the assembly was completed, a new slingshot resembling a crossbow without the bow was made. She examined it in her hands before handing it to Myung-jun.

“It’s quite heavy.”

“To withstand the intended tension, a minimum thickness must be secured. However, I’ve attached a proper sighting device and made it adjustable for zeroing, so its performance should be quite good.”

“Shall we try it?”

Complying with her wish, Myung-jun attached a medical rubber tube to the completed slingshot.

Then, he affixed a piece of leather in the middle of the tube to hold a metal bead.

Then a reasonably well-made slingshot was completed, and Myung-jun placed a metal bead, 2 centimeters in diameter, that Soo-jeong had prepared in advance against the leather part and pulled the rubber band.

–Clink–

While hearing the safety catch catching onto the metal ring attached to the leather piece, Myung-jun aimed the slingshot.

Then, with a serious expression, he pulled the trigger.

However, the result was very disappointing, contrary to the two people’s expectations.

–Plop! Roll roll roll–

“What? That’s it? There’s not even a bit of force. Well, I expected as much.”

“It even seems weaker than a regular slingshot?”

“The slingshot itself was made with outrageous specs, but we used a weak rubber band. From the start, it was designed considering your ability to change the tension strength of the rubber band. So, there’s no need to attach a strong rubber band making it difficult to load. The correct way to use this slingshot is to quickly load and immediately change its attributes.”

“Well, I have to admit that it looks cool.”

As Myung-jun said, the slingshot they created was so cool that it was hard to even call it a slingshot.

Since operations were mainly to be carried out at night avoiding the surveillance, standard on military firearms, were attached in several places, allowing tactical lights, infrared sights, and optical scopes to be equipped.

Moreover, it was made of cast iron, polished smoothly, and finished with a tenifer (a corrosion-resistant treatment used on gun metal parts), giving it the feel of a real military weapon.

While examining the impressive slingshot that would excite gun enthusiasts, Myung-jun detached the rubber band from the slingshot.

Then, he disassembled the slingshot using a purposely made pin.

It wasn’t a complete disassembly, but a simple detachment to hide the fact it was a weapon.

“When the rubber band is removed and detached, it doesn’t look like a slingshot. It might look like a crossbow component because of the handle, but it lacks the bowstring, the most crucial part of the crossbow.”

“Right. If it’s like this, it’ll probably pass any inspection.”

“Then let’s end today’s work here. Did you find any information on the appearance of the monster I asked about?”

“I’m not sure, but I think I’ve found some leads. Come here.”

Myung-jun followed Soo-jeong to where her laptop was.

Soo-jeong then showed him the various internet windows she had opened.

“As you said, reports of monster being spotted all over the country are indeed being made through the internet. Most of these reports are about barns being attacked or horrifically slain bodies being discovered near villages.”

“Since it’s not a monster that tends to leave witnesses alive, there probably aren’t many people who’ve seen the monster with their own eyes and lived to tell the tale.”

“Right. And those who find traces of these attacks often post things like ‘After that day, soldiers with guns started roaming around our village. What’s happening in our country?’ See this photo?”

What Soo-jeong showed him was a photo of a group of soldiers posted on a blog.

These soldiers, seemingly better equipped than the standard Korean army, had a different system of weaponry than the usual Korean military formation.

“That’s an M82A1M Barrett.”

“The sniper rifle that fires the .50 caliber bullet you mentioned?”

“Yeah.”

“That means the Ministry of National Defense has found a way to deal with Rank 2 Monster, huh? Furthermore, the guns the soldiers are carrying aren’t K2s. Do you know what they are?”

“It’s the G3 rifle from H&K. A rifle that fires 7.62mm NATO standard rounds. Wow! Seems like the Ministry of National Defense really invested in some quality weapons. Those are pretty expensive.”

“It means the Ministry felt the lack of firepower when dealing with these monsters. It hasn’t been supplied to the entire army yet, but it seems to have been rapidly supplied to the units specifically searching for these monsters.”

“But in my unit, we were equipped with K2s which being used by the regular soldiers.”

“You can’t arm hundreds of thousands of soldiers with such expensive weapons. Maybe the plan is to first let the regular soldiers scout, and if it’s confirmed the monsters are the cause, then they deploy the specialized hunting units?”

“So, we were just used as human shields and got killed.”

“They probably thought that was the most efficient way from their perspective. Are you okay?”

Seeing Myung-jun’s dark expression, Soo-jeong worriedly asked, and Myung-jun shook his head.

“I don’t feel much about it. I just thought I never want to be caught up in such a situation again because of someone else’s decision.”

“It will be like that. As long as things go according to our plan.”

Soo-jeong then pulled up a map of Korea. On the map, there were red and blue dots she had marked. “The red dots represent posts about traces of monsters, and the blue ones are posts about soldier locations. If you look at the map on a weekly basis like this, you don’t see a consistent pattern, right?”

“It takes quite a while from the initial report to when the soldiers are dispatched. Maybe up to a week.”

“Yes. That means the Ministry isn’t yet perfectly responding to the situation. Could be due to a lack of manpower, or lack of equipment. But what I wonder is, why don’t these monsters immediately attack villages… Do you know why?”

“I explained about the gate, right?”

“Yes.”

“Rank 1 Monsters spawn randomly near the gate, but they usually don’t move alone. A certain number has to gather before they attack populated areas. Until the appearance of Rank 2 Monster, they patrol around the gate until they gather in sufficient numbers.”

“So, they are creatures with that level of intelligence?”

“Exactly. They are natural predators. They constantly assess whether their opponent is a threat or an easy target. It was the same when our unit was attacked. First, the Rank 2 Monster, which bullets couldn’t penetrate, appeared to break our morale, followed by Rank 1 Monsters. If our squad leader hadn’t bravely lured the Rank 2 Monster elsewhere, I might not be here now.”

“That squad leader seems like a remarkable person.”

“He was a good leader. Brave man.”

Myung-jun lowered his head to clear his mind.

Now, rather than being consumed by grief, there were tasks that needed to be done.

“Anyway, looking at this map gives me a rough understanding. We have about a week after the initial incident report is out, right?”

“If we’re lucky, up to two weeks might be possible, but to be safe, it’s better to go within a week. And even if we move immediately after the discovery report, we won’t know about the police patrolling the scene. So, we need to move around carefully without arousing suspicion.”

“But with all the information being posted online, how can we determine which is the real report on the unidentified entity?”

“First, we should focus on the sites where similar posts are frequent and create a keyword search program. If posts containing keywords like ‘monster’, ‘corpse’, ‘raid’, ‘bloodbath’, ‘beast’, ‘massacre’, ‘murder’ appear, an alert should sound, and the address of the post should be registered. After that, we just have to check the posts periodically and target the most suspicious points, right?”

“That’s a good idea. Let’s start moving on it tomorrow.”

“No, now’s not the right time. I’m not sure where they’re from, but we’re already being watched, and Myung-jun has only been discharged from the military for a week. If a newly discharged person is seen at accident sites, it will be suspicious.”

“Hmm… You’re right.”

“So, why not prepare to go anytime and disguise ourselves as if we’ve always been wandering around?”

“Are you talking about the dating strategy you mentioned this morning?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

Myung-jun thought. The camouflage strategy she proposed might not be too far-fetched. Externally, it would seem like they were traveling the country for food tours, and she was covering all the expenses. And if they’re lucky, they might stumble upon a ‘gate’ on their travels. Having pondered up to this point, Myung-jun accepted her plan.

“It’s not a bad idea. Let’s do it.”

“Yay! So, are we officially a couple starting today?”

Watching Soo-jeong, who was excitedly jumping on the spot, Myung-jun said,

“You don’t mean dating for real, right?”

“If it were real, would you date me?”

“If you can swear on your conscience that you would have dated me even without my abilities.”

“Ugh.”

“I think our current relationship is not bad if you’re just holding onto me for my abilities. Though we’ve only met for two days, the consideration you’ve shown me has been very helpful in executing my plans. And let me assure you, I won’t betray you unless you betray me first.”

“Even if a more helpful collaborator appears?”

“We might need more collaborators in the future. But we’d accept them only if they share our vision. If I had to give you up to get that collaborator, I’d never make that choice.”

“Alright. The future is uncertain, but for now, I’ll trust you and be content with that.”

“Then let’s go.”

“Huh? We’re not breaking up now?”

“We’re ‘in a relationship’ to the outside world, right? So, it’s my duty to escort you home.

After buying me a Porsche, it would look bad if you just took a taxi home, wouldn’t it?”

“If that’s the reason, I won’t refuse and will gladly accept your offer.”

With that, Myung-jun left the workshop, placed the finished gun parts in the trunk of the Porsche, and set off for Soo-jeong’s house with her.

From that day on, the ‘pretend relationship’ between the two with a common goal was about to officially begin.

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