Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense - Chapter 83

083 – The One Above the Running One

“If looking down on people from high places isn’t a hobby, how about coming out and speaking face to face with confidence? The person known as the world’s strongest Awakener wouldn’t be scared to come out.”

Hee-cheol deliberately provoked Myung-jun as if tempting him outside, but Myung-jun returned his words exactly.

[Calling me a coward with nearly 40 tanks around is a bit off, isn’t it? Who’s the real coward?]

“Isn’t this side facing the ‘world’s strongest’? In that case, we should treat him accordingly.”

[The world’s strongest…]

A smile appeared on Myung-jun’s lips as he thought for a moment.

[That makes sense. If facing the world’s strongest, nearly 40 tanks wouldn’t be nearly enough.]

And at that moment, the armored gate of the Liberal Clan headquarters, which seemed impenetrable even to missiles, began to open with countless mechanical sounds.

What appeared from within were Myung-jun calmly walking in front of 40 tanks and over 300 special forces, and more than 100 fully armed Awakeners without a hint of trembling, even in front of such a force.

“Prepare for shooting! Do not fire until the order comes!”

“All members, stay in your current positions!”

Following Myung-jun’s steps, the tank barrels turned in unison, hundreds of gun barrels aimed to kill one person. Sniper scopes placed on the rooftops of surrounding buildings.

Swords and greatswords, pistols and rifles, giant war hammers and spears, battle axes and chain scythes larger than a person’s height.

Countless weapons prepared to subdue one person were aimed at Myung-jun with a force that seemed ready to attack at any moment. However, Myung-jun, the subject himself, calmly turned his head and looked around as if taking a leisurely stroll.

Finally, arriving in front of Hee-cheol, who was staring at him with an extremely tense expression, Myung-jun slowly spoke.

“I’m here.”

“Unarmed???”

“Does that matter? With a single gesture, I can easily massacre the people here.”

Hearing Myung-jun’s words, the soldiers swallowed dry saliva in the tension that seemed unbearable.

The word ‘massacre’ coming from Myung-jun’s mouth sounded chillingly realistic.

This young man in his early twenties had the actual ability to do so.

“Amazing.”

“An objective view of his own abilities.”

“Are you really planning to fight? Even if the EDA Awakeners are unaware, most of the soldiers here are civilians mobilized under orders. They only follow orders faithfully to protect the country.”

“If necessary. I don’t particularly want to use my power against humans, not like this form. However, if that person is pointing a barrel at me and my loved ones, I can’t just stand by.”

Myung-jun’s response to Hee-cheol’s question was exactly what he desired. It wasn’t from a human who indiscriminately massacres others just because they find them annoying; instead, it carried a minimal sense of empathy for the homeland and fellow countrymen.

The awkwardness of not wanting to fight against fellow humans and fellow soldiers, a crucial point Hee-cheol aimed to exploit, led him to change his attitude 180 degrees in front of Myung-jun, deeply bowing to apologize.

“I apologize!”

Hee-cheol said.

“The disrespect and mobilized forces up to now were a kind of provocation to scout you as an Awakener under the EDA. If we’ve confirmed that Mr. Cha Myung-jun has no intention of combat against his fellow citizens, there’s no need for further provocation. From now on, we will uphold courtesy.”

“If that’s the case, I will also observe courtesy.”

“Thank you!”

At the same moment, while Myung-jun diverted his gaze, Soo-jeong and Arin, with Ho-chang and Kei, were using the transparency function of the Liberal Clan’s special-purpose airship, Shadow Hawk, to escape from the rooftop landing pad of the Clan headquarters.

Soo-jeong’s created Shadow Hawk, in addition to its camouflage ability projecting the surrounding environment onto its surface for covert operations, could also perform extremely low-frequency flight without producing any noise or wind disturbance.

Therefore, none of the hundreds of soldiers, over 40 tanks, or snipers stationed on building rooftops noticed Soo-jeong and her group leaving the Liberal Clan headquarters.

Watching Hee-cheol suddenly bow deeply in front of Myung-jun through the situation room monitor, Arin, who was observing the scene, expressed her disbelief.

“What’s going on? Wasn’t that person here to fight with Myung-jun oppa today?”

Then, while chewing on popcorn and watching the monitor beside her, Soo-jeong, who had turned on the autopilot mode, spoke.

“If you only assert your pride, negotiations will never proceed. Myung-jun said that Director Moon Hee-cheol’s personality is the most annoying. He can abandon both pride and honor for his own purposes.”

“Hmm? Isn’t that amazing? To be able to be so flexible even in such a high position.”

“That’s what Myung-jun said. The problem is not pride but that he’s someone willing to abandon conscience and humanity.”

Soo-jeong said.

“Their goal is to secure Myung-jun’s recruits by any means necessary, whether through threats, persuasion, or any other means. They want to identify whether Myung-jun’s weakness lies in family, or perhaps in me as his lover. Or maybe the entire clan is Myung-jun’s weakness. After that, like a machine, they’ll keep making the equipment demanded by the South Korean government continuously.”

“We’re already providing equipment as much as they want, right? Even the highest grade with just the materials they bring. Look here.”

Arin pointed with her finger to the weapons with the Liberal Clan logo, wielded by fully armed EDA-affiliated Awakeners.

Those weapons were the Awakener-exclusive weapons received by the Liberal Clan in exchange for all the materials and crystals collected by Hee-cheol from the EDA. Slightly raising her body to examine the weapons closely, Soo-jeong sat back down, smiling, and picked up her popcorn.

“Really? Huh…… I was wondering why the order volume has increased lately. So, it has been purchased by EDA?”

“Hmm, right… Unni!? Then, there’s no need to use such drastic means. Couldn’t we just continue to purchase from them like this? Liberal Clan won’t deliberately make weaker equipment than the materials you have received, right?”

“Instead, they take half of it. That’s what bothers me.”

As Soo-jeong mentioned, the Liberal Clan did not charge money when purchasing equipment. Instead, they received an equivalent amount of materials used in the production of the equipment.

Hee-cheol was extremely displeased with this arrangement, as he believed that, similar to the government’s control over crucial resources like oil and gas, crystals and monsters materials should be treated in a comparable manner.

What bothered him even more was the fact that every time other Awakeners ordered equipment to become stronger, both Myung-jun and the Liberal Clan also became stronger. If 10 people ordered equipment, it meant preparing materials for 20, and if 100 people ordered, it meant materials for 100.

Hee-cheol pointed out this aspect to Myung-jun, to which Myung-jun replied.

“If you don’t like it, you can buy equipment elsewhere. Of course, the performance won’t be as good as what we make.”

Hee-cheol then suggested.

“If you receive money instead, you could quickly become the wealthiest person in the world.”

Myung-jun responded firmly.

“Strength cannot be obtained through money.”

Hee-cheol continued.

“Instead, with that money, you could buy as many materials as you want. Our proposal is to convert the Liberal Clan into a national organization under the government’s jurisdiction. The government would handle sales and management, while the Liberal Clan would focus on production. This way, we could step back from unnecessary price disputes, and material procurement would be much easier than distribution.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Why not?”

“In other words, your suggestion is to add an additional distribution step to the current direct transaction method. The South Korean government wouldn’t sell at a loss, right? Then, wouldn’t the price inevitably increase?”

“In return, we will eliminate all criminal charges against the Liberal Clan imposed by the South Korean government.”

Myung-jun lowered his head again.

“You seem to want to package it well on your end, but no matter how well you package it, summarizing the government’s argument would be something like this. ‘You’re enjoying the honey, so let me add a spoonful for myself.’”

“That’s an excessive leap.”

“Indeed? If we become a government agency, let me predict what will happen. Firstly, the Liberal Clan, the world’s strongest Awakener force, will be forcibly mobilized by the government for gate conquests whenever needed.”

“That’s…”

“It’s in the executive order. It states, ‘In cases where needed by the government, members of the clan may be mobilized for gate conquests.’”

Myung-jun continued, stating that if the South Korean government monopolized the sale of Liberal Clan equipment, they would have the authority to adjust prices in the market as they pleased. At that point, Liberal Clan equipment, which anyone could obtain as long as they had the materials, would become unattainable even with ‘as much money as possible.’ Myung-jun emphasized that this would not be a good thing for all Awakeners worldwide.

Listening to this firm rejection, Hee-cheol realized that the young man in front of him was not someone who could be easily persuaded.

However, despite the increasingly certain situation where persuasion seemed impossible, Hee-cheol’s expression was filled with confidence. He had already prepared the ‘second plan’ in anticipation of such circumstances.

The second plan targeted Myung-jun’s most fatal weakness.

“Alright. If your conviction is that strong, persuasion might be impossible. In that case, a little coercion might be necessary. Just as Myung-jun is firm in his thoughts, the determination of the South Korean government to place the Liberal Clan under its control is equally firm.”

“Do you intend to resort to threats? I’ve mentioned before, even if everyone here attacks at once, there’s no way to deal with it.”

“While I can’t agree with that opinion, I believe direct combat should be the last resort. That’s why we have prepared a much more efficient means than that.”

As Hee-cheol raised his right hand, an EDA agent waiting in the background brought a monitor attached to a mobile stand and placed it in front of Myung-jun.

Then, Hee-cheol spoke to Myung-jun.

“When we first met, you were a soldier, right?”

“Director, you were too.”

“That’s correct. you had almost completed his 18-month mandatory military service, a duty every South Korean man should fulfill for national defense. After we parted ways, the first thing I did was investigate Myung-jun. However, there was little information available, except that all the comrades he served with had died in the last mission. That’s the only exception.”

In Hee-cheol’s hand was the platoon diary written by Park Hae-soo, who was Myung-jun’s platoon leader when Myung-jun was a private. Unfolding the small notebook containing the psychological states of platoon members and peculiarities within the platoon, Hee-cheol continued.

“Private Cha Myung-jun. Today, he made remarks expressing concern for his younger sister, who lives with their grandmother. He is struggling with the fact that, having lost his parents, he, the only male in the family, must leave for military service.”

“He frequently talks about his younger sister. Despite his meager salary, he gathers money to buy gifts for her, expressing a desire to go out and buy them. He goes out to an internet cafe in a non-restricted area to purchase gifts online and has them delivered home.”

“During today’s training, he made more mistakes than usual. Upon counseling, it was revealed that his grandmother is unwell. Reporting to the platoon leader, arrangements were made for him to call home twice a day during personal maintenance time until his grandmother recovers.”

Reading through the story of ‘family’, not just any other person’s story but Myung-jun’s. Hee-cheol, with a triumphant expression, saw the boiling anger within Myung-jun’s heart, which he could not suppress.

However, before Myung-jun could externalize that anger, Hee-cheol extended the platoon leader’s notebook he had been holding towards Myung-jun, preventing him from taking any immediate action.

“Our armed EDA members are currently at your house and the school where his younger sister attends. Touching family is not crossing a line?”

“Crossing the line is Myung-jun’s endless strength. It has definitively surpassed the realm that the government can control. So, we have only one choice. Instead of an uncontrollable target, secure the only existence that can control the uncontrollable.”

Hee-cheol, triumphantly, had an expression of victory that Myung-jun, who knew Hee-cheol’s personality better than Hee-cheol himself, had already taken all the countermeasures against. Before Hee-cheol, unaware of this fact, nodded towards the EDA members waiting in the back, Myung-jun spoke.

“Probably, Mr. Myung-jun’s precious family members are currently safely in the custody of the dispatched EDA agents. Let’s initiate a video call right away.”

As Hee-cheol flicked his fingers, the monitor, which had been turned off, lit up. However, the person who appeared on it was not the individual Hee-cheol had been anticipating. Instead of Myung-jun’s sister, who was supposed to be restrained as a new recruit, there was a man wearing clothes with a prominent EDA logo, lying unconscious on the floor.

And at that moment, as the camera turned, it illuminated the face of a woman. Not Myung-jun’s sister’s face but a familiar face that Hee-cheol already knew.

[Oh, the light’s on? Myung-jun! Hi! Can you see my screen well?]

“No. Of course, you’re pretty even on video, but you look much prettier in person, senior.”

[Hehe. I’ll show you that pretty face in a bit. For now, let’s focus on the business at hand.]

Saying so, Soo-jeong, holding a bodycam in one hand, awkwardly saluted.

[Reporting in, Liberal Clan crew member Han Soo-jeong! Safely secured the new recruit, the clan leader’s sister! Will immediately move to the rendezvous point using the prepared mobile equipment!]

As Myung-jun smiled and nodded, Soo-jeong terminated the communication.

Then, Myung-jun, smiling, looked at Hee-cheol, who was struggling to comprehend this shocking situation.

“Say it again. What happened to my sister?”

It was the moment when Hee-cheol’s last remaining card, the one he believed in until the end, the one that could control the monster in front of him, disappeared.

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