Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Chapter 31

031 – Rematch

“Wow… That’s really impressive… Is that a human? That thing?”

Myung-jun, who was observing the rematch with the Awakener recreated from Ho-Chang’s memories, let out a short exclamation of admiration. Soo-jeong, who was also watching the scene, spoke up,

“I don’t understand it well even when I watch. Besides the fact that Mr. Ho-Chang is adept at countering the attacker moves?”

“The fact that he can counter those attacks is like a trick in itself. Basically, combat-oriented Awakener have their physical abilities enhanced according to their level of awakening. Each attack that Mr. Ho-Chang is countering has the potential to inflict fatal damage at the moment of impact.”

“In other words, what Mr. Ho-Chang is doing now is deflecting attacks with destructive power beyond the level of punches swung with full force by a UFC champion?”

“That’s right.”

“Then, is it like Aikido?”

“I don’t know much about martial arts, but I don’t think it’s quite like that. It’s more about attacking the joints to change the trajectory of the attack rather than grappling and breaking.”

For instance, if you flick the knee with a small hammer while sitting down, the leg will bounce up regardless of the subject’s will. The defensive technique Ho-Chang is currently using is precisely this kind of unconditional reflex of the body. With exact timing and precise force, he is forcing the opponent’s attack trajectory by striking the right spot, a defensive technique that could be called ‘offensive counter’.

The martial art Mr. Ho-Chang learned was a defensive style specialized in ‘counter.’

“Fundamentally, a punch is an attack delivered to maximize destructive power at the target point. If you put strength into your muscles from the start, the speed of the punch will decrease. That’s why skilled boxers swing their fists with a sense of short, precise motions to ensure the impact takes place at the right position.”

“Does less force go into the arm during the swing? And Mr. Ho-Chang is precisely targeting the joint area to ‘hit’ it and break the arm?”

“Though theoretically akin to trying to hit the side of a flying bullet to alter its trajectory, he’s dealing with it at the level of Awakener speed. There are cases where attacks that cannot be properly countered due to differences in physical abilities, but that’s because he’s using his body to turn and receive the attacks with the parts having more muscles.”

As Myung-jun had stated, Ho-Chang wasn’t successfully countering every attack. However, amidst the barrage of attacks, he was mitigating damage as severe as lethal injuries. The problem was that such a defensive method might work against attacks from ‘ordinary people,’ but it was useless against Awakeners.

“What… What kind of power is this…?”

Ho-Chang’s shoulders, trained to withstand even firm blows, didn’t suffer any damage when struck with a solid block. But when brushed by an opponent’s passing attack, they instantly turned reddish-purple, revealing the toll. This was an attack that couldn’t be explained merely by the concepts of ‘power of punches’ or ‘speed’.

[It won’t reduce damage to merely brush against or dodge the attacks unless you completely evade them.]

“What is this… Ugh!”

Suddenly, a voice echoed, causing Ho-Chang’s focus to waver, and a punch plunged into his abdomen. Ho-Chang was sent flying backward, about 10 meters, and crashed onto the ground.

“Uweh!”

After being slammed onto the ground, Ho-Chang’s head was lowered, and he began to retch, but there was nothing coming out. During the one-month recovery period, his stomach had been filled with an unidentified liquid for treatment purposes, and that’s all that was in there.

After a considerable bout of dry heaving, Ho-Chang staggered to his feet with a rough breath. Then, he shouted at the voice that had spoken to him.

“What are you saying?”

[Awakener attacks possess innate destructive power that can’t be simply determined by the force or speed behind the attack. In other words, even a slow punch that doesn’t appear all that powerful actually contains the potential to crush steel upon impact. So, it’s not advisable to think of reducing damage by just grazing the attack if you’re not taking a direct hit.]

“Destructive power?”

[In simple terms, the fist you’re blocking right now, Mr. Ho-Chang, contains a special destructive force that transcends the laws of physics.]

Ho-Chang looked at his blackened shoulder muscles in disbelief.

Then, he gazed at the attacker approaching him and exclaimed,

“This is insane! Transcending the laws of physics? Then how do you even counter that? Isn’t the direct confrontation itself meaningless?”

[That’s right. After all, the opponent is an awakener who can block bullets with their body.]

“Then, even switching to offense won’t work. Even if my punches are stronger, they won’t be stronger than bullets.”

With those words, Ho-Chang stretched out his arms as if giving up the fight. However, his expression still glowed with the desire for victory.

“Now, since I’ve shown my cards, how about showing yours, Myung-jun?”

[Cards? What are you talking about?]

As Myung-jun expressed confusion, Ho-Chang smiled and said,

“Even though you know that I would lose if we had a rematch, you still forced this rematch, which means you must have something different prepared compared to our previous battles. For example… equipment related to combat, like the ‘Armored Suit’.”

[Did you know?]

“Upon entering this space, the first thing I noticed was a tank parked there. I’m well aware that Byung-tae specialty is driving. I personally scouted him for the company. So, interpreting with the same logic, my specialty is hand-to-hand combat, which means you’ve prepared equipment related to that, right?”

Ho-Chang extended his arm and snapped his fingers, making a wooden sound. Then, in a tone that sounded like he was waiting for something, he shouted into the air,

“Show me, Hurry! I feel like I’m going to be dizzy.”

What reached Ho-Chang’s ears was a “spectacularly impressive” command that made his pounding heart feel like it would explode.

[Authorization granted for equipment usage on Crewman Lee Ho-Chang. Equipping Armored Suit ‘Warden’ Mk-1.]

In that moment, as if invisible water droplets had formed, the air in front of Ho-Chang’s chest began to ripple. Before Ho-Chang could react by stepping back, countless metal components within the rippling space started attaching to his body like spider legs.

“Ugh… Ugh…!”

The sound that came out wasn’t a scream of agony, but it was more of a momentary confusion. Ho-Chang quietly observed the process as the metal parts combined and took shape around his body.

[Dual-legged bipedal armored suit ‘Warden’ equipped. Displaying HUD for equipment usage.]

“This is my ability…”

Although there were many translucent shapes and graphs of unknown meaning in front of him, Ho-Chang knew well that the information contained in those shapes wasn’t relevant to his current self. What he needed right now to defeat his opponent in front of him.

That was the ‘Defense’ to withstand the opponent’s attacks, and ‘Attack’ to defeat the opponent. Just these two.

Ho-Chang bent his arm, clenched his fist, and checked the movement of the Armored suit. The Armored suit’s motion, perfectly synchronized with his own, conveyed the sensation that he himself had become the Armored suit.

Repeating the movement of rapidly extending his arms and legs as if stretching his body, Ho-Chang assumed a satisfactory posture. Then, with his palm raised and his fingers clicking, he provoked the attacker.

“This should be enough. Come on. You bastard! Even if it’s a simulation, I’ll give you a real thrashing.”

Even though the opponent in front of him was a simulation generated based on his memories, Ho-Chang couldn’t hide his excitement knowing that he could finally get satisfying revenge on the opponent who had given him the ‘defeat’ outside of his master.

However, in contrast to Ho-Chang’s expectations, the opponent who had attacked him so fiercely just moments ago was standing still, not doing anything.

Perplexed, Ho-Chang shouted to the air,

“Huh? Aren’t you going to fight? If you want to test the performance, you should at least engage in a fight, right?”

[You need to fight, of course. But this test isn’t just for stress relief for you. It’s to objectively assess how strong you are, wearing the armored suit created based on my ability, is. And in current state, it’s clear that Mr. Ho-Chang will win 100%. So, wouldn’t you agree that this can’t be considered a proper test?]

“Then, how are you planning to do it?”

[Like this.]

As Myung-jun finished speaking, 99 more attackers appeared in front of Ho-Chang as if they had teleported. Even one ‘Awakener’ would be challenging to handle, but now there were a total of 100 in front of him.

Seeing this, Ho-Chang exclaimed with a voice tinged with injustice,

“Even a UFC champion wouldn’t be able to defeat a hundred regular people putting their lives on the line. Moreover, those guys are all Awakeners. How am I supposed to take on those monsters all by myself?”

[Oh, it seems there might be a misunderstanding. This test isn’t just to assess Mr. Ho-Chang’s ‘attack power.’ It’s also to test his ability to efficiently withstand attacks from multiple opponents, a kind of ‘defense test’.]

“You mean…”

[Most likely, your thoughts are correct.]

A mischievous smile played on Myung-jun’s lips as he spoke to Ho-Chang.

[For now, let’s see how well you can hold up for about 30 minutes. Let’s test how long the Armored suit can withstand.]

Before Myung-jun’s words even finished, a terrifying 100 assailants rushed at Ho-Chang simultaneously. Not with the speed from a little while ago, but with a transcendently fast speed, utilizing the awakener abilities to the limit.

Seeing the barrage of fists coming at him like cannonballs, Ho-Chang’s mind drifted to a thought:

“Did I make a mistake in choosing someone to serve?”

And at that moment,

Boom! Boom! Bang! –

Accompanied by the deafening sound that felt like dozens of anti-tank shells hitting a tank, Ho-Chang’s ‘defense test’ against 100 Rank-2 Awakener began in earnest.

It was a combat of destruction far beyond the scope of battles waged by ordinary humans.

*********

“Heuk, heuk, heuk…”

Gasping for breath, the colossal 2.3-meter-tall Armored suit was heaving its shoulders.

And around it lay exactly 100 corpses, scattered in all directions, having become victims of its onslaught.

It took a mere 11 minutes and 23 seconds to defeat all 100 opponents.

Although Myung-jun had anticipated Ho-Chang enduring for 30 minutes to conduct a ‘defense test,’ Ho-Chang, on the contrary, proved his ‘attack power’ by toppling all opponents in less than half of that time. And this was made possible by Ho-Chang’s unique martial arts specialized in ‘counter’ maneuvers.

[I thought you might have actually defeated 100 of them. With this, the endurance test loses its meaning, doesn’t it?]

“No, I properly ‘defended.’ They just threw themselves at the spots I defended with insane speed and self-destructed. The law of action and reaction applies in this world.”

[Are you okay? Did you sustain any injuries?]

“I strained my muscles a bit by defending at such high speeds. Even though the Armored suit’s movements were synchronized with my intentions, it felt like my muscles couldn’t keep up due to the rapid tempo. Especially in rapid-defense motions.”

[How does it feel to wear the armored suit? Were there any uncomfortable or tight-fitting parts? Or any parts where the impact of hits was felt?]

Myung-jun’s concerns were only natural. After all, the attacks of the assailants who had pounded on Ho-Chang’s Armored suit earlier were more powerful than tank shells. If Ho-Chang had been wearing a regular Armored suit, even if the surface was intact, the muscles underneath might have been crushed like ketchup due to the cumulative impact.

However, since the Armored suit’s defense wasn’t merely physical endurance but rather the defense crafted by Myung-jun’s ‘abilities’, no damage had been inflicted on Ho-Chang’s body.

“Except for the strain on the muscles to keep up with the Armored suit’s movements, there’s no damage from impacts. It’s absurd. Even if we were both wearing Armored suits of the same thickness, if I had taken just one hit from the same attack a little while ago, I’d be a mess.”

[That’s because the Armored suit you’re wearing possesses its unique ‘abilities’. For now, we’ll conclude today’s test. Well done.]

“I feel like I could fight more though.”

[I understand your sentiment, but for now, please proceed to the briefing room. There are things I need to discuss with you, given that you’ve awoken after a month.]

Before Ho-Chang could respond, the Armored suit that had enveloped his entire body began to disintegrate into pieces. And just like when the Armored suit had formed around him, the disassembled pieces vanished into the shimmering void in an instant.

As the Armored suit disappeared, the only things left in Ho-Chang’s field of vision were the piles of around 100 dummy bodies sprawled around him. They weren’t actual corpses but replicas created based on his memories, identical to the real ones. Looking at the mass of figures that had once pushed him to the brink of death with just their presence, Ho-Chang let out a bitter smile.

Then, he made his way to the briefing room, following Byung-tae, who was waiting for him. Byung-tae was the one who had given the perplexing order for the ‘defense test’ upon his return after a month, and he was the central figure in all of these events.

Ho-Chang was heading to meet Cha Myung-jun.

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