Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

112 – Reversed Fate

The Chalice of Souls was a very peculiar item.

It was an essential material for crafting ‘Ego Weapons’, weapons with their own will, yet it was of no use to the wizard class, the only class capable of creating such weapons.

Although it was essential for creating ego weapons, the Chalice itself couldn’t manifest any abilities. It was an item that could only exhibit its capabilities when used as a ‘material’ by necromancer or blacksmith classes.

Furthermore, if the Chalice couldn’t procure a soul to inhabit it, it was literally just a ‘material item’.

It had numerous other drawbacks, with the main ones listed as follow, firstly, the difficulty in obtaining a soul to put inside it.

Ideally, one would need the soul of a high-ranking Awakener to properly craft an ego weapon. However, high-ranking Awakeners who enjoyed being used as tools were not that common. Moreover, due to the inability to resist the user’s will, there was a risk of being controlled like a slave for a lifetime.

Secondly, only the wizard class could craft it, yet ironically, the wizard class couldn’t use it.

Originally, the Chalice of Souls, being a material item, required a blacksmith capable of completing ego weapons or a necromancer capable of providing a physical vessel.

Thirdly, the inefficiency of the ego weapon itself.

Of course, there was an advantage in that, by putting the soul of an Awakener who handled fire attributes inside the Chalice of Souls, an Awakener who handled ice attributes could also handle fire attributes simultaneously. However, the ego weapon itself required energy supplied by a crystal or infused by the caster to use its abilities, and due to its extremely poor conversion efficiency, most Awakeners preferred to use energy for their own attribute abilities rather than dealing with another attribute through ego weapons.

Due to these various drawbacks, the Chalice of Souls was mainly used for the intelligent crafting of necromancers’ corpses, rather than ego weapons. Ironically, for that reason, Awakeners became even more reluctant to provide their souls to the Chalice of Souls.

However, since Myung-jun’s return, the Chalice of Souls was considered to be of infinite value at the current time by the people.

To those who first encountered the Chalice of Souls, it seemed like an item containing the secret of eternal life, as it could preserve souls indefinitely.

‘In fact, buying it after D-DAY would be much more profitable, but…’

Myung-jun wanted to create the Keeper’s body before D-DAY.

Moreover, he wanted to create it not in the form of an ego weapon that couldn’t resist the user’s will, but in the form of an ‘Ego Puppet’ that could act freely with its own will.

Even if Myung-jun had to bear losses, the main reason he ‘insisted’ on creating the Keeper’s body at this point was for two significant reasons.

The biggest reason was that before D-DAY, he wanted to recruit the Keeper not just as an advisor but as a comrade to fight alongside him.

To preserve human civilization against the alien entity that would engulf the entire Earth on D-DAY, it was crucial to recruit at least one trustworthy comrade.

The second reason was to fulfill the promise made with the Keeper before the regression.

After his regression, Myung-jun made a promise to himself that he would definitely give the Keeper a body that could move freely. Just as Aladdin granted freedom to Genie as his final wish, Myung-jun wanted to give the Keeper a body that could move freely, who had helped him in his regression.

The reason Myung-jun chose the class of ‘Doll Maker’ at the moment of regression also harbored the thought of whether he could contain the Keeper’s soul in a doll.

However, since Hee-cheol took over the Doll Maker class, and since Myung-jun received a new class, he planned to use his ‘Mechanic’ abilities to create the Keeper’s body to its fullest potential.

Myung-jun carefully read through the list of essential materials with the characteristics necessary for creating Ego Puppets that Soo-jung had handed him.

There were extraordinary materials listed there that even Myung-jun had never attempted to make before.

‘Room-temperature superconductors, I’ve made them countless times, so I can make them manually, but metallic blood? Organic metal composites? Self-regenerating synthetic silicon? Some of these seem impossible to make even with genetic mutations.’

At that moment, the Keeper’s voice echoed in Myung-jun’s mind as he pondered.

“Not easy at all. Enhancing and diminishing the properties of matter is one thing, but creating items with entirely new traits is a different level of difficulty. My ability is specialized in transformation, not creation.”

“Even with your encouragement, I feel weak.”

That was a lie. Just hearing the Keeper speak to him like before significantly relieved the burden on Myung-jun’s mind.

Since Myung-jun mentioned the ‘promise’, the Keeper had been treating Myung-jun with a bright voice, completely dissipating any dissatisfaction he had.

It was natural for the Keeper to say that.

The ‘promise’ Myung-jun mentioned was a promise he made with himself, not with the Keeper.

The Keeper was extremely grateful to know that while he worked silently for Myung-jun, Myung-jun was also thinking about him.

“When I finally get a body, will you help me with the real soul?”

The Keeper, upon hearing Myung-jun’s words, spoke with a pleased tone.

“Not to the level of a plan, but I have a rough idea.”

Saying so, Myung-jun took out a small bottle.

It was a small bottle with the flag of South Korea, the Taegeukgi, drawn on it.

“A potion for Awakeners announced by the Ministry of National Defense of South Korea after the departure of the Liberal Clan from Sejong City. It’s usually called ‘Awakener Ability Enhancer’.”

“That’s right. Besides this, there are potions that temporarily reinforce fibers for defense and potions that regenerate wounds instantly when applied. It’s one of the items Holmes gave me when we received the promised first batch of supplies from the US government.”

With a sigh, Myung-jun spoke upon hearing the Keeper’s words.

“My thoughts exactly. There’s probably an Alchemist imprisoned in the Ministry of National Defense’s basement, brewing potions to death in my place. If my guess is correct, that person is likely a former soldier…”

“Yeah, and that bothers me.”

Myung-jun said.

“Of course, whether someone is actually imprisoned in the basement of the Ministry of National Defense and being squeezed to death is something we need to find out first. But the fact that such a being exists itself makes me feel reminiscent of my past. It feels similar to when I failed to keep the promise to meet my younger sister before the regression.”

Myung-jun suspected if this feeling was not somehow influenced by the Free Will of Freedom’s Nebula.

However, the Keeper clarified that such thoughts from Myung-jun were a misunderstanding.

The Freedom’s Nebula does not arbitrarily interfere with the free will of its champions, fitting its name of ‘freedom’.

So, the discomfort Myung-jun felt was likely coming from his own will.

After hearing the Keeper’s explanation, Myung-jun nodded in agreement with the Keeper’s opinion.

“I also believe that the Goddess wouldn’t do such a thing to me. So, this discomfort is probably sympathy for the unfortunate being who ended up with the same fate as mine.”

“For now, we need to find out if such a being really exists. And if someone else is imprisoned and exploited in my place, I’ll definitely rescue them, even if I have to blow up the entire Ministry of National Defense building. At least that would be the minimum atonement for the one burdened with my destiny.”

“I won’t force it. Even if they’re not part of our faction, as long as they’re given freedom, they can order the materials necessary for Ego Puppet production in the form of a commission. But if that person desires to join the world’s strongest awakened clan…”

Myung-jun chuckled.

“I won’t kick out a stroke of luck that rolls in on its own.”

====

***

====

As Myung-jun conversed with the Keeper, deep within the underground facilities of the Ministry of National Defense, a man in a hazmat suit stared at a test tube with a serious gaze. Even if a bomb exploded next to him, he wouldn’t flinch.

Sitting still for a while, he poured the green contents from the test tube into a flask filled with blue liquid as soon as the contents inside the test tube turned red. Then, he leaped behind the massive steel plate next to the desk, plugged his ears, and crouched down.

– Bubble, bubble, bubble –

Like something placed on fire, the flask bubbled vigorously, emitting steam. After some time, the contents inside the flask slowly changed color and settled as the boiling subsided. And finally, as the contents in the flask turned golden, and the boiling ceased, the man peeked into the bottle beyond the steel plate. However, due to the intense chemical reaction a moment ago, steam filled the vicinity of the desk, preventing the man from confirming the status of the bottle.

“It doesn’t look good.”

At a distance, another man in hazmat gear, who had been observing the man, approached the bottle and said, “Is it complete? I’ll come in to check.”

“You shouldn’t approach so recklessly!”

Shouted the man hiding behind the steel plate, but it was too late.

As the approaching man touched the steam cloud near the flask, it dissolved and disintegrated the part it touched as if it were being torn apart.

Though the man was wearing a hazmat suit capable of defending against almost all types of chemical attacks, the golden steam near the flask was melting the specialized silicon-based hazmat suit as if sugar had touched water.

“Aaargh! Help me!!!”

“Darn it! Turn on the ventilation! I’m going to die like this!”

The man behind the steel plate shouted desperately.

But the response that came back was only the cold voice from the speaker.

[We apologize, but turning on the ventilation will damage the entire ventilation system.]

“People are dying!”

[We apologize. Please wait in your current location.]

“Then send a rescue team!”

[We cannot risk potential information leakage. I’m sorry, but please wait where you are now.]

“People are dying!”

[As long as you are safe, it’s fine. New surveillance personnel will come to your room soon.]

In the end, the man could only watch as a soldier in front of him turned into a handful of blood in front of his eyes.

And shortly after, the door opened, and another man in thicker hazmat gear entered the room.

“Experiment number 7755. Experiment to manufacture molecular disintegration reagent. Failure. The desk made of Liberal Clan materials did not disintegrate.”

Listening to the emotionless voice, the man behind the steel plate lowered his head weakly.

Then, the man who had just entered the room in hazmat gear addressed him.

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to continue the experiment. We’ve placed new reagents and experimental equipment in the adjacent room. Proceed with the next experiment. Sergeant Kim Hyun-seo.”

The man referred to as ‘Sergeant Kim Hyun-seo.’

He was the unfortunate soldier tasked with the role of ‘Post-Cha Myung-jun,’ newly secured for the sake of South Korea’s security after Hee-cheol’s failure to recruit Myung-jun’s newcomers.