Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

058 – Phase 1 Target

It had been about six months since Myung-jun and the members of the Liberal Clan visited the United States secretly without the knowledge of the Korean government. During that period, society had undergone tremendous changes, with one of the most significant being the loosening of weapon regulations, including firearms and bladed weapons, in most countries, including conservative South Korea.

Of course, it wasn’t as if people were casually walking around the streets of Apgujeong with large swords on their backs. Unlike some countries that had completely deregulated, South Korea still maintained a strict pre-approval system for weapon use.

Hunters specializing in “Monster Hunts” operating in South Korea would submit weapon usage permits to government agencies or civilian clans with permits for storing and transporting special weapons, using their weapons upon receiving approval, and returning them after hunting.

And, as expected, the Liberal Clan had become one of the few civilian clans with licenses for weapon storage, transportation, and sales. Thanks to that, the central lobby of the Liberal Clan headquarters, which Soo-jeong had designed and even deleted a whole building for, was always bustling with hunters looking to obtain new equipment or refunding crystal stones, as well as material suppliers and seekers.

[Hunter needed for Rank 1 gate assault in Onam-ri, Namyangju.]

[Recruiting new members for the “Immortals” party with two awakeners in the party!]

[Looking for rookie hunters for monster hunting near the gate in Hwacheon, Gangwon-do. Non-awakeners are also welcome!]

[Buying Night Stalker skins at 2.18 million won per kilogram.]

[Looking to purchase damaged second-hand hunting equipment at a low price. Prices will be determined based on the market rate.]

Similar to the appearance of adventurer guilds in fantasy anime, a large electronic board occupied an entire wall of the lobby, displaying numerous electronic memos categorized by color.

And in front of the board, numerous people were busy looking at their screens with a hunter app created by Soo-jeong, trying to find the memos they needed.

However, the most popular and crowded corner was the one where the Liberal Clan sold “special equipment” for civilians and awakeners.

The shopping area that occupied almost half of the giant first-floor lobby was filled with armor suits that seemed to come out of an SF movie and gigantic weapons that even burly adult men would find challenging to carry. On the other side, various convenience equipment for survival within the gate or internal exploration, such as canned food and drones, were displayed.

Of course, the price for each piece of equipment was well over several million won, so the number of people who purchased equipment was not very high. However, Liberal Clan’s equipment that allowed civilians, not just awakeners, to hunt monsters was the most coveted item among people aspiring to become hunters.

Even when forming a party, having equipment with the Liberal Clan logo would get you into a party without questions. That was because the second-generation equipment that Soo-jeong had developed after receiving weapons from the United States was significantly improved compared to the first-generation equipment she handed over to the U.S. government.

“The Arcane Rifle here uses a special ammunition called the ‘Arcane Shell,’ made through crystal stone processing, instead of conventional lead bullets. The enhanced electromagnetic rail system fires the bullet at three times the speed of regular ammunition, and upon penetrating the tough armor of a Monster, it expands and buries itself into the muscles. The miniature sensor inside the bullet then detects the Monster’s blood and detonates inside the body, able to easily shred a rank 3 Monster’s body into pieces.”

Following Soo-jeong’s instructions, a guide who had memorized all the specs of the 2nd generation equipment being sold by the Liberal Clan began to explain a massive gun the size of an adult man’s thigh, and everyone listening to her explanation had their eyes sparkle in unison.

However, the sparkle in the eyes turned into disappointment when she mentioned the price.

“The price of the Arcane Rifle is 172 million points, including taxes in Korean won. This price includes 200 rounds of the dedicated ammunition called the Arcane Shell. If you want to purchase Arcane Shells separately, you can buy 30 rounds for 20 million points.”

“Isn’t that too expensive?”

“Do you know that one Rank 3 crystal stone costs 20 million won? Even if you succeed in hunting only 50 Monsters with 200 rounds, you can earn 1 billion points. Considering the potential earnings and safety in gate assaults, this price can be considered very reasonable.”

In fact, her explanations to the visitors about the equipment were more like a tourist guide service. Most of the people who could afford such expensive weapons were awakeners or professional hunters who already knew everything about equipment.

So, the people listening to her explanations were mostly those who visited the Liberal Clan out of curiosity or prospective hunters interested in the profession but lacked the funds. Among them, there were even high school students and middle school students wearing school uniforms.

“Next, I’ll explain the convenience equipment. The drone you see here is made of special materials that can operate within the gate. It can detect the location of all Monsters within a maximum exploration radius of 2,000 meters and transmit that information to the user. It also analyzes the terrain and provides information about locations suitable for establishing base camps, defensive positions, as well as the location of useful materials, processing methods, etc. This premium item increases party survival rates in the gate by more than 50%.”

“But aren’t there drones available in the market?”

Then, a man who was visiting for the first time raised his hand to ask, and the guide, as if accustomed to such questions, answered proficiently.

“Electronic devices cannot be used within the gate. Once inside, their functions are completely blocked. The only electronic devices that can be operated inside the gate are special equipment that contains Monster materials.”

She held up a small drone no bigger than the palm of her hand.

“The CNA-03 ‘Canary’ drone, specially coated to be undetectable by flying Monsters, is currently available for sale at ten million points. It comes with control goggles for operating and a ‘GI-02, Gate Eye,’ which contains various information needed for gate assaults.”

Then, the man who had asked about the drones earlier raised his hand again.

“But why is the price in points, not in won or dollars?”

“It’s simple. To purchase our Liberal Clan’s equipment directly, you need ‘points’ that can only be obtained when delivering Monster materials or crystal stones to the Liberal Clan.”

“But don’t you need to hunt Monsters to obtain Monster materials? If I want to purchase with cash…”

“To buy material with cash, you would need to purchase materials from a different market that deals with Monster materials and bring them here for a refund.”

Initially, the Liberal Clan used to sell equipment for cash as well. However, in just a few months, governments and private companies worldwide began to enter the Monster hunting industry, taking an interest in the immense value of crystal stones and Monster materials.

As a result, the value of crystal stones and materials began to skyrocket. Eventually, when businesses emerged that were willing to purchase crystal stones and materials at prices higher than those offered by the Liberal Clan, people began to sell their materials to these businesses for cash and then use the cash to buy equipment from the Liberal Clan. Upon learning this fact, Myung-jun changed the sales method the next day, allowing only high-level equipment to be purchased with points.

The point purchase system applied only to “advanced equipment” needed by professional hunters, so people could still buy “basic equipment” for the “entry-level” of Monster hunting with cash. Though it was still quite expensive, it didn’t matter to people.

Even those customers with enough points to purchase high-level equipment had to wait for ‘several months’ to receive the equipment because of the overwhelming demand.

The fervor caused by the Gate incident was that intense.

Despite the risk of losing their lives, people were wielding firearms and dragging others into the mountains and forests, to the point where the occupation that used to be written on many elementary school students’ career aspirations turned from ‘YouTuber’ to ‘Awakener’ in just half a year.

And Myung-jun, located at the heart of this intense fervor, did his best at the Liberal Clan to align the flow of the times in the direction he desired.

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Even though the appearance at the lobby might resemble a Liberal Clan where it felt like you were attending a weapons exhibition in a sci-fi movie, one could find a familiar scene just one floor above.

The world’s first civilian Awakener clan, the Liberal Clan, also had aspects that resembled a typical company when observed closely.

And that was a part that couldn’t be helped even by Myung-jun’s abilities.

Even Awakeners needed to eat, so there had to be a cafeteria inside. Someone had to inspect the collected Monster materials and manage inventory. Someone else had to manage the salaries of numerous employees and deposit their monthly paychecks into their bank accounts.

So, unlike the first floor of the clan headquarters that exuded a distinct SF vibe with various weapons and equipment, from the second floor, there was a more office-like layout.

Nevertheless, there was one space that bore the distinct mark of the Liberal Clan even within. That was the ‘Conference Room,’ where the Liberal Clan held meetings attended by regular department employees and Gate assault teams every Monday, based on the specifics of the Awakeners Act passed in the National Assembly.

In these meetings, a team leader and one aide from various teams that constituted the clan came out to provide their work reports, and the recipient of these reports was naturally Myung-jun, the head of the Liberal Clan.

“Next, please provide a report from the Legal Team.”

“Yes, Mr. Chairman. This week, the Legal Team established a special task force to respond to the Ministry of National Defense’s request for equipment acquisition and began to develop the details of the Awakener bill passed in the National Assembly…”

Among the team leaders giving reports, none were younger than Myung-jun, but he calmly received the reports with a serious expression, even when half of the legal terminology was almost incomprehensible.

By his side, Soo-jeong, dressed in a refined suit and wearing glasses, was jotting down notes on her tablet and neatly organizing the content to show Myung-jun whenever something he didn’t understand came up.

“So, can we rest assured that there will be no concerns of our equipment being forcibly confiscated by the Ministry of National Defense?”

“As long as a new law is passed in the National Assembly for that specific purpose, it might be possible, but under the current circumstances, it’s impossible.”

“But South Korea is a divided nation in a state of armistice, isn’t it? In case of a war resumption, certain types of vehicles are said to be requisitioned by the Ministry of National Defense.”

“Oh, that’s a common misconception. In the past, when you bought a car like a Korando, you had to write an agreement pledging that you would unconditionally comply with military requisition requests, and in return, they reduced the vehicle tax a bit. Now, that provision no longer exists. Furthermore, it’s clearly stated in the Awakener Management Act that an Awakener’s personal firearms are not subject to requisition during wartime.”

“The likelihood of a new law to amend that…?”

“We’re always keeping an eye on the National Assembly to make sure such a situation doesn’t arise. If a problem arises, we will mobilize the lobby team immediately.”

“Very well. Next, please provide a report from the Intelligence Team.”

“Intelligence Team here. Currently, many reports of Rank 2 Gates have been reported worldwide, with a few Rank 3 Gates occurring sporadically. Based on information gathered from our operatives dispatched to 72 countries…”

“Management Team. Last week, following Ford, Mercedes-Benz also decided to launch a new car based on Crystal Energy technology, causing another sharp increase in Crystal Energy prices. Currently, Crystal Energy prices are established at 420,000 won per 1 CE (Crystal Energy: the standard that determines the value of Crystal Energy)…”

“External Cooperation Team. Currently, the Liberal Clan has received a total of 24 requests for cooperation in Gate strategies, and we have assigned cooperation priorities according to internal guidelines. If you take a look at the reports in front of you…”

Although the Liberal Clan itself was only founded six months ago, the attitudes of the team leaders giving reports were as confident as those who had been in this job for a long time.

This was because every individual gathered here had the talent to pioneer an unprecedented territory they had never set foot in before. The Liberal Clan was also considerate of them, offering fair salaries that matched their abilities and passions, allowing them to feel fulfilled in their work.

But the reason they left their previous jobs and joined the Liberal Clan was not just because of the high industry-level salaries.

“Then let’s conclude this week’s meeting with that. Does anyone have any questions?”

As soon as Myung-jun, who had received all the reports, spoke to tidy up the room, everyone in the meeting room raised their hands.

In response, Myung-jun smiled and spoke to them, “This is an opportunity for questions unrelated to Gate strategy.”

Then, everyone lowered their hands, and Myung-jun addressed them with a smile.

“Honestly, I believe that each of you has the ability and passion to confidently secure a place at any other company. We are grateful that you are using your outstanding skills for the Liberal Clan. However, as originally contracted, you must achieve significant results in your current roles for at least one year to be eligible to become an Awakener.”

Upon this statement, someone raised their hand, and Myung-jun continued with what he wanted to say without taking their question.

“And you should also groom your successors. If you meet all those conditions, we will immediately send you on a Gate strategy to awaken until you become an Awakener, just as promised.”

As the current world’s official top-ranked Awakener, boasting a 100% success rate in Gate strategies, Myung-jun’s words caused the team leaders to lower their raised hands and display dreamy expressions.

And as if extracting a promise, one of them spoke to Myung-jun, “You promise?”

“I promise. However, even if you participate in Gate strategies and aim for an awakening by conquering high-level Gates, awakening abilities vary from person to person. So, please don’t resent us even if you gain abilities you don’t particularly like.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Myung-jun smiled as he put down the tablet. Then, he addressed the clan members who supported the Liberal Clan.

“Everyone, I know we are currently busy and going through tough times, but this is an extremely important period for the Liberal Clan and all of humanity. Shortly, an era will come when Gates that are nearly impossible to stop with the power humanity has accumulated will appear more frequently. Dangerous Monsters that not even Awakeners can face will overflow. So, before that time comes, we need to be as prepared as possible. So…”

“For the sake of humanity, we will do our best.”

“Good. But remember, our goal is not to become a shield protecting humanity but to become the most powerful sword that humanity can wield. We are not here to be sacrificed like fools under the name of heroes. Although it comes at a high cost, we aim to be the best mercenary group that offers the highest performance if you use us.”

Becoming the most outstanding clan among the many civilian clans that focused on Gate strategies—this was Myung-jun’s ultimate goal and ideology, which he had held since founding the Liberal Clan.

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