Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Chapter 34

034 – Spirit King Enclave

“Oh, you recognize me?”

The reason Myung-jun remembered her was because she was the one who troubled him the most before his regression. The entity that instantly corroded all the equipment he had ever created. She capable of freely adjusting the lifespan of not just living beings, but all matter that has a lifespan. She was one of the Twelve Divine Beings from another universe with different physical laws, The [Queen of Shadows], Spirit King Enclave.

‘Wait, the Twelve Heavenly Lords are appearing at this stage? There’s still a long time till D-day. What kind of balance breakdown is this? Is it because of the regression?!’

Whether she knew Myung-jun’s thoughts or not, the girl walked slowly towards him, exuding an aura of death that did not match her frail appearance.

“Yes, Twelve Heavenly Lords. Queen of Shadows. Master of Death. The queen of souls governing universes that are dominated by death, among infinitely existing parallel universes. Spirit King Enclave is the name that refers to me.”

She spoke.

For some reason, because of Myung-jun’s existence, the “higher-ups” were very angry, and she had descended to Earth earlier than scheduled by their direct orders.

And Myung-jun realized who these “higher-ups” were.

‘The Guardian.’

Then Time Keeper, who had heard Myung-jun’s inner thoughts, responded in a tense voice.

<Damn, it’s a rule violation to interfere so directly. I never thought they’d prepare this kind of measure.>

‘Is there no way?’

<None. Time Keepers primarily Observe and Record, so we have no direct combat abilities. Moreover, my ability to read the future is also not much help in this complex web of possibilities.>

Feeling as if death was slowly approaching, Myung-jun looked at the girl walking towards him and gritted his teeth.

But the girl, who seemed ready to turn him to dust any moment, stopped and spoke to him.

“I will give you a chance.”

“A chance?”

“Surrender and become a servant to them. Then, your lost limbs will be immediately restored, and you will be granted the power to rule the universe. Become the new lord who rules this universe by defeating me and the other Twelve Heavenly Lords and join our group.”

She continued her explanation. In any case, the Gate incident and all other processes are nothing but a plaything for the gods. What the gods want is to see something interesting through this planet Earth.

“Since you’re going to be swept up in the story anyway, wouldn’t it be the most enjoyable to become the protagonist?”

However, Myung-jun lifted his middle finger and rejected her offer outright.

“What? The protagonist? You’re joking. Tell those above you to just go catch their meal.”

“Are you a fool? You have a chance to become a heroic spirit, save your kind, and even challenge the gods. Are you rejecting it?”

“It’s not the protagonist who saves the world according to a script someone else laid out. It’s an actor. Be it gods or guardian, I don’t give a damn. I don’t want to move like a puppet under someone else’s command anymore.”

“And if it costs you your life?”

“If I die, I’ll die under my own will.”

The girl clenched her fist tightly as if she was annoyed.

Then she reached her hand towards Myung-jun and said,

“Fine. Die under your self-righteous free will. But I promise it won’t be an easy death.”

Even though Myung-jun was a “returner”, to her, who was a ruler of the universe, he was nothing more than an ant she could crush.

Her fury was immense that this mere ant had rejected her proposal.

And finally, a dark energy began to seep from the tips of her fingers; Myung-jun felt death approaching.

It was a pitiful death, considering he had even time-traveled back after spending 30 years failing to accomplish anything while stuck in the basement of the Ministry of National Defense.

‘I’m sorry,’

Myung-jun apologized to Time Keeper, standing before his impending death.

Despite all the efforts the Time Keeper had made to rewind the flow of time for him, he was about to die in vain.

But Time Keeper replied calmly,

<It’s alright. This is literally breaking rule, and I also didn’t anticipate the opponent would act so cruelly. In the future I read, you were supposed to gain power and move to the next stage today.>

At that moment, a beautiful voice unlike any human’s resonated everywhere.

The voice was so clear that it snapped Myung-jun, who was becoming faint due to the loss of blood, back to reality.

“Guardian of Time, the future you read was not wrong.”

“Who… are you?!! Why are you here?!”

Myung-jun looked in the direction where Enclave was staring, her face now full of fear.

And there, he found a being that humans should neither see nor understand.

‘Goddess?’

She was beautiful and not beautiful, dazzling and not dazzling.

She defied any single definition, invoking a myriad of words yet remaining indefinable.

“This is breaking rule! And this guy isn’t even your champion!”

Despite Enclave’s angry outburst, the Goddess looked down at Myung-jun with a merciful expression.

And as she waved her hand, Myung-jun’s blown-off right leg was instantly regenerated.

“You broke the rules first. Do you think it’s fair for you to be here?”

“But…”

“If you hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have either. But you did come and hurt my potential champion, so now I’m here as a result. But before talking about who’s right or wrong…”

With an unbelievably cold gaze, as if devoid of compassion, Goddess reached out and said,

“You’ll have to face the punishment for breaking the rules.”

At that moment, Enclave’s legs exploded just like Myung-jun had experienced.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

And then Goddess began fighting with Enclave, as if to show what divine wrath really was.

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***

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Myung-jun shared only the parts of his experience that did not involve Regression and Keeper.

Upon hearing this, Ho Chang, who had his mouth wide open, said in a dazed expression,

“So, you’re saying, the monsters invading this planet are actually beings from outer space, and you fought their leader while I was fighting with that agent, and you received your current abilities from a divine being stronger than their leader?”

“In summary, yes.”

“It’s unbelievable, really. Just like a story where you’re the protagonist. So are Byung tae and I now the initial companions of the protagonist?”

“Initial members and likely the last ones as well.”

“Phew… It’s too much to take in all at once. Fine. Then what ability did that grand divine being bestow upon you?”

“It’s code-named [Mechanic]. Its original name is [Cain’s Legacy].”

“Cain’s Legacy?”

“Once a transcendent being who roamed infinite parallel universes. The first champion of [Liberal], the goddess of freedom and liberation. A magnificent soul who challenged the gods and fought against the laws that govern the universe, until his very existence was annihilated.”

Myung-jun continued his explanation.

“There once was a being named Cain. With his extraordinary abilities, he conquered his planet, then the galaxy, and eventually the universe, ultimately challenging the gods. But his goal was not to become a god, but to break the laws that govern the universe. The gods saw him as a threat and succeeded in annihilating him after numerous battles. Wishing to free all sentient beings from being the playthings of gods, the Goddess of Liberation sealed Cain’s abilities in seven levels and hid them in an abandoned dimension just before he was annihilated. What I received is the authority to access that seal.”

“So, if all the seals are broken…”

“I’d be able to fully utilize Cain’s abilities, who once fought against the gods. But I believe that in the end, I’ll be stronger than Cain.”

“Why?”

“Unlike Cain at that time, I have companions like you,” Myung-jun said.

“The defensive master Mr. Ho Chang, who once faced off against Awakeners with his bare hands, the driving master Mr. Byung tae, who can handle a car he’s never seen before as if it were his own hands and feet, and Senior Soo-jeong, who makes more innovative and original inventions than any inventor I’ve ever seen.”

The Goddess of Liberation had said that unlike Cain, who tried to solve everything on his own, Myung-jun would have companions. And Cain’s legacy becomes several times more powerful with those companions around. However, there is a burden that comes with owning Cain’s legacy.

“Of course, it sounds like we’ve gained the ability to rule the universe, but there are two fatal flaws in this ability,” Myung-jun continued.

“What are they?” someone asked.

“First, the ability itself is entirely sealed. What you’ve experienced now is not the true ability of my class, which is sealed in seven stages, but rather the remnants of that ability. To unlock the full ability, an astronomical amount of Crystal Stone is required. Therefore, we have to target much higher-ranked gates than others, who are safely targeting lower-ranked gates.”

“And the second?”

“As I mentioned, this ability was deemed too dangerous and the gods who rule the universe sought to eradicate it. That warning is still valid. The moment my ability is known to other gods, the gods of the outer universe will try to eliminate us by any means necessary. And that threat would be incomparably greater than the threat you faced that day.”

Myung-jun explained that they might even face a level of threat like meeting a level 99 final boss when they haven’t even reached level 10 yet.

“Numerous dangers will obstruct our path, to the point where it feels like the world itself is against us,” said Myung-jun.

Ho Chang, upon hearing this, pondered for a moment before asking,

“Does this threat apply the moment we leave this space?”

“No, that’s not the case. During the battle with the Enclave, the Goddess of Liberation placed a kind of seal on her. The moment the system transferred Cain’s legacy to me was after she was expelled. So probably the only thing the gods know is that I’ve directly met the goddess,” replied Myung-jun.

“It’s an ability with many risks, then,” Ho Chang noted.

“But there will be definite advantages. Although I haven’t yet unlocked a single seal and don’t know the full extent of the power, even the remnants are providing tremendous benefits,” Myung-jun explained.

Byung Tae then chimed in, slapping his knee and saying, “High risk, high return, huh? I like it! Life is a gamble, man!”

Contrary to the excited Byung Tae, Ho Chang, in a calm voice, asked another question to Myung-jun, “Let me ask one more thing. We understand that the leader has such a unique ability. However, current governments worldwide are hiding information about these monsters, as you’ve mentioned. In such circumstances, how do you plan to use your ability?”

It was a natural question to ask. Acquiring the tremendous amount of Crystal stone needed to unlock the seals, as Myung-jun had described, was the most important issue, especially when government trackers were sent just to secure a single gate. Attempting large-scale gate conquests under the current system was absolutely impossible.

Hearing Ho Chang’s pointed question, a small smile formed on Myung-jun’s lips.

The question he had just been asked was a part of the “most important plan” that Myung-jun had been waiting for. Myung-jun, in a confident voice, said to Ho Chang who was waiting for his answer, “Are you curious about the specific full plan?”

Seeing Ho Chang nod, Myung-jun began to explain his “future plans.”

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