Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

172 – Limits

Upon receiving the EDA’s request, Myung-jun immediately halted all his activities and headed to South Korea. The bizarre infection spreading within the South Korean military was something he already knew about from his pre-regression knowledge.

‘The EDA calls it the Brainworm, but it’s definitely an Inspector,’ he thought.

The South Korean Ministry of National Defense and the EDA were completely missing the mark. The danger of the Inspector, as Myung-jun knew, wasn’t limited to the potential annihilation of a single military unit. Before his regression, the Inspector was one of the most notorious types of monsters.

It had nearly brought Russia, a military powerhouse with over 140 million people, to the brink of collapse. The Inspector’s stealth was such that no human diagnostic equipment—MRI, PET-CT, thermal imaging cameras, or X-RAY—could detect the infected. It showed no signs until it attacked uninfected individuals the moment no one was watching, turning them into infected.

The Inspector’s cunning lay in its ability to use the host’s memories to make it nearly impossible to distinguish infected from uninfected through behavior alone. The most terrifying aspect was that until the host gave specific orders, the infected focused solely on spreading the infection without showing any symptoms.

The current discovery had occurred when a supply officer, who had gone to smoke near a warehouse, witnessed a female officer infecting a regular soldier.

Aboard the Shadow Hawk en route to South Korea, Myung-jun checked his equipment with a grave expression. Ito Kei, noticing his serious demeanor, spoke up.

“You look troubled. Is it that dangerous?”

“It’s not just a regular problem. The monster discovered this time is like a termite; if one is found, it means the entire house is already filled with termite eggs.”

“Ugh. So, should we use some kind of pesticide?”

“The issue is, we don’t know which pesticide will work. We have mechanical engineering masters and chemical experts on our side, but no medical specialists.”

Overly potent pesticides could harm not just the pests but also humans.

If the entire area was indeed overrun with pests, the only way to eradicate them would be to eliminate the entire region. This was the conclusion Russia had reached when faced with the Inspector before Myung-jun’s regression. They had decided to drop a nuclear bomb on a city presumed to be entirely infected, accepting massive casualties to protect the remaining population. This decision resulted in humanity losing nearly one-sixtieth of its population in a single day.

‘The hopeful aspect is that the infection was detected in a frontline military unit rather than a major city. Due to recent consolidations caused by a shortage of active-duty personnel, the distances between units have increased significantly. We might be able to contain the damage to a division or, if we’re lucky, a battalion.’

There were some positive aspects. Unlike humanity before his regression, which had no way to distinguish between infected and uninfected individuals, Myung-jun now had substantial resources at his disposal. He looked at the clan members accompanying him to South Korea.

Among them was Ito Kei, the world’s best tracker with an exceptional sense of smell; Lee Soo-bin, an Awakener capable of preventing tens of thousands of infected from even approaching; and Park Seung-ho, an alchemist who had been imprisoned in a research facility beneath the South Korean Awakener Research Institute, creating rare chemicals. Also, piloting the Shadow Hawk was Han Soo-jeong, the sub-clan master of the Liberal Clan, who had come along in case new equipment needed to be developed.

Bringing nearly half of the elite forces of the already small but elite Liberal Clan showed just how seriously Myung-jun was taking this crisis.

“I’ve already mentioned this, but according to the EDA’s report, this monster transmits the infection through the mouth. However, that’s only one known method, and given the ever-changing nature of these monsters, we can’t rule out other transmission methods. So, under no circumstances should anyone remove their bionic suits during this operation.”

The bionic suits Myung-jun referred to were specially developed power armors designed by Soo-jeong to counter biochemical threats. Unlike traditional power armors, these didn’t enhance strength or add weaponry but offered extreme shielding capabilities. They could block even the smallest odor molecules, making them effective even in sewage tanks filled with livestock manure. They also had self-cleaning capabilities, with special nozzles that sprayed a cleansing solution over the suit.

The suits could detect and neutralize chemical toxins through sensors in the fingertips and could generate a powerful electric current to incinerate any insect or parasitic monsters clinging to the suit.

However, not everyone was pleased with the bionic suit’s perfect sealing capabilities. Ito Kei, the seeker from the Liberal Clan who relied on detecting scent molecules in the air to utilize his Awakening abilities, found it particularly frustrating.

“This is practically airtight. With the cleansing function on, I can’t even smell anything with my abilities…”

Given that Kei could identify a scent with just a single molecule in the air, his statement meant the power armor was indeed impenetrable to any external particles. Myung-jun, however, seemed reassured by Kei’s complaint.

“I wear power armor often, so I don’t notice much difference. How does it feel to you, as a seeker with heightened olfactory senses?”

“It feels like being a vacuum-sealed pack of chicken breast. It’s like going back to before I became an Awakener.”

At that moment, Soo-jeong, who was seated in the cockpit, overheard their conversation and addressed Kei.

“That’s why we prepared a special piece of equipment for you for this mission. Open the storage compartment under your seat.”

Kei opened the compartment to find a toy gun with a cute puppy head attached to it.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the Puppy Nose Mk-1. It sucks in the surrounding air, converts it into digital signals, and then synthesizes the scent inside your suit through a diffuser. Its performance is far inferior to your Awakening abilities, but it should help.”

“It synthesizes external scents and delivers them to me?”

“The concept behind the bionic suit’s development is to prevent even a single external molecule from entering the suit. All external stimuli are synthesized from pre-prepared materials inside the suit. Even the voice you’re hearing now isn’t direct; it’s detected by an external microphone and then synthesized by an internal speaker.”

“Why the voice?”

“There could be attacks using sound waves. The bionic suit is designed to convert all external stimuli that could harm the human body into harmless signals before delivering them. That’s the concept behind its development.”

“I’m not sure if I can do well with this.”

“Well, the equipment we’ve prepared is just a precaution for the worst-case scenario. If the infected are only transmitting parasites through the mouth, as reported by the EDA, there’s no need for the bionic suit. A sturdy mask that can block the mouth should suffice.”

Soo-jeong smiled at Kei as she spoke.

“Let’s assess the situation first and then switch out the equipment if necessary.”

Despite her explanation, Kei’s expression remained troubled.

The unfamiliar sensation of having his extraordinary sense of smell completely blocked was disconcerting for Kei, whose olfactory abilities were thousands of times more sensitive than a human’s. He grumbled to Myung-jun, who was also clad in the power armor that far exceeded the necessary level of protection.

“No matter how I think about it, this feels like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

Myung-jun smiled at Kei’s complaint and replied, “Just bear with it. Soo-jeong is the type who needs to push everything to the limit to be satisfied. That’s why she always brings a ton of backup equipment whenever I go to a Gate.”

The phrase “forewarned is forearmed” perfectly encapsulated Soo-jeong’s personality.

====

***

====

“It looks like you’re preparing to enter a radioactive zone,” remarked Yoon Se-ah, the EDA director, as she observed the Liberal Clan members disembarking from the Shadow Hawk, all wearing identical power armor.

Unlike the EDA agents, who were clad in standard protective gear for biochemical threats, the Liberal Clan members appeared as if they were about to enter the most contaminated area in space. However, Yoon Se-ah thought that this level of preparedness might be the secret to the Liberal Clan’s success.

The Liberal Clan had consistently demonstrated their adeptness in handling any threat that had arisen since the Gate Crisis. Seeing them so thoroughly protected made Yoon Se-ah feel a deep sense of unease.

“Is the threat really severe enough to warrant such extensive equipment?” she asked.

Myung-jun, setting down the box he was carrying, replied, “We’re about to find out. The dumbest thing we could do when facing this kind of threat is to go in unprepared and get infected without a plan.”

Following Yoon Se-ah, Myung-jun moved to the tent serving as the operations center. There, he confirmed the location of the suspected infected unit on the map and estimated the distance between their current position and the infected unit.

He then stepped outside and retrieved a column-shaped device from the box, handing it to Soo-bin and Kei.

“You’ve used these before, right? I’ll mark the locations on the navigator; go and set them up at each spot.”

Soo-bin looked at the floating map with a startled expression. “Positions 3 and 4 are north of the DMZ.”

“We need to block as wide an area as possible. The barrier field generators work best when arranged in a circular pattern, so if necessary, we’ll have to cross the DMZ.”

“Wait a minute. You’re saying we should go beyond the DMZ and plant these column-like devices? The North Korean military won’t just stand by.”

The device Myung-jun handed over was a type of barrier field generator, similar to the one Kei and Soo-bin had used to rescue Park Seung-ho from the South Korean Gate Research Institute. Myung-jun intended to set up a barrier field that would block not just insects or contaminants but even air, to prevent further infection. Yoon Se-ah thought Myung-jun’s plan to install the barrier devices beyond the DMZ was too extreme.

“If you really want to do this, it would be better to formally request cooperation from the North Korean government. The North Korean military might see us crossing the DMZ as an act of provocation.”

“Well, we could contact them and proceed slowly, but we won’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s a hassle. We’ll send a message, but we won’t wait for permission. Soo-jeong, can you connect to the North Korean military frequencies?”

“I can hack into the White House’s offline lines remotely, so an outdated North Korean communication network is a piece of cake.”

“Then connect and send this message.”

“Sure. What should it say?”

“This is the Liberal Clan. We are about to install equipment beyond the DMZ to respond to the monster incident.”

“That’s not bad. If you add something like ‘We request your cooperation’ at the end…”

Yoon Se-ah thought that with a slightly softer approach, the North Korean side might cooperate, given that they were also facing threats from the Gate Crisis. Any abnormal situation in the DMZ could pose a threat to North Korea if South Korea failed to contain it.

However, Myung-jun’s additional message shattered her expectations completely.

“Add one more line: ‘If you don’t interfere, nothing will happen. But if you do, we’ll erase North Korea from the map.’”

Before Yoon Se-ah could stop her, Soo-jeong tapped on her tablet and sent the message. Instantly, Myung-jun’s message appeared on every military monitor used by the North Korean army.

Soo-jeong, finding it too bothersome to identify the specific person in charge, had hacked into the entire North Korean military network to deliver the message. This act was a small form of revenge from a young man who had lost a year and a half of his youth to mandatory conscription because of North Korea’s existence.