It was nerve-wracking, but most of the objectives I had planned for after crossing into Kaeseong were accomplished. Even with all the dangers.
We succeeded in assassinating the Queen of the monsters, and killed dozens of the elite Ant Monsters.
We didn’t even get attacked by the North Korean military.
I let out a sigh of relief.
“Let’s rest for a bit before heading back.”
“Okay.”
The Holy Knight sat down, leaning against the concrete rubble.
Ming Ming walked over to my side, while Honey Combo and Mangkomi were fighting over one of the insect monster’s legs.
I quietly replaced the filter in my gas mask. Even if the battle was over, I didn’t want to inhale any insecticide.
The Holy Knight stared into the air.
“It was all within Doctor’s hands. From the start, if you summoned that armored monster, everything would have been solved.”
That wasn’t true.
‘Living Armor’ wasn’t some toy or convenient weapon. It was a monstrous thing I obtained by killing its previous master.
It was pure luck that I managed to use it successfully this time.
The fact that we were able to lure all the enemy’s elite monsters and wipe them out at once was thanks to the effort we spent fighting and infiltrating, drawing the monsters all the way to the Queen’s chamber.
It wasn’t some secret weapon that could solve every problem.
Rather than contradict him, I just shrugged my shoulders.
“It’s the result of fighting together.”
“Doctor Lee Han. May I ask you a question?”
“Go ahead.”
“There must be some reason something chose me. Only a handful of people ever receive powers from the System.”
“I don’t know.”
I gave a brief answer.
The reason I chose the Holy Knight was because, in his past life, he had been a powerful Awakened.
Maybe he had his own backstory, but I had no way of knowing why the System picked him.
“Is there anything you do know?”
I had conducted demographic research on the traits of Awakened several times in my previous life.
Religion, gender, race. None of those really affected awakening rates.
While it was true that one’s abilities at awakening were influenced by their life experiences or what they did before awakening, this man wasn’t even a fencer before he awakened.
“The System probably just thought ‘Holy Knight’ suited you. It doesn’t make sense to begin with. There’s no point trying to reason it out.”
“But Doctor, you’re a researcher. Isn’t your awakening ability related to researching and creating things?”
That’s true enough. Anyway… The point is, meaning is something we make. The System isn’t a god. Who do you think brought the monsters here in the first place?”
“Doctor Lee Han doesn’t believe in gods or fate, then… Never mind.”
The Holy Knight turned his gaze towards me.
“This conversation isn’t going anywhere. Let’s get to work.”
“Alright.”
The Holy Knight stood up.
We moved again, heading back to the spot where the Ant Monster Queen had fallen.
Ming Ming quietly followed after me.
“So, how are we going to clean this up?”
“Just write a report. Take a few weapons with you.”
It didn’t look like there was any way to take the monster carcasses with us.
I tied up the weapons that the Ant Monsters had collected with some rope and loaded them onto Pineapple’s back.
I had taken more of them, but let’s consider this an investment for the future.
The Holy Knight picked up a spear from the ground.
“Why do you think the ants gathered weapons?”
“Probably needed objects containing Aether. Whether they eat it, or just keep it nearby, I’m not sure.”
It happened often enough.
Even the Gate Worshippers liked gathering objects with Aether in them.
Now that I think about it, the Supernatural Science Research Institute wasn’t all that different.
I poked the Queen Monster with the greatsword fixed to the end of my rifle.
It was a giant monster, so there had to be a Magic Stone, or at least something equivalent to a Magic Stone inside.
I hoped I could find it and take it back…
I narrowed my eyes and used my Explorer trait to track the flow of Aether.
“That must be it.”
There were several small, gem-like structures embedded at the back of the monster’s head.
I’d thought they were just decorations, but on closer inspection, they were small Magic Stones.
This structure hadn’t existed in the human-sized specimens.
I pulled out a sample bag and collected as many of the Magic Stones from the monster’s corpse as I could.
Many grains make a mountain.
“Looking at the sky, the sun will be up soon.”
“Is that so?”
“We’d better get going, before it rises completely.”
I looked up. Above my head, the twilight was returning to the sky.
Orange light was slowly creeping up from the east.
“We’d better move quickly.”
We had taken down a few elite monsters, but that didn’t mean I wanted to fight more monsters in North Korean territory.
And then—
Thump.
The rubber boat landed on the southern coast.
We returned to Gimpo.
Again, before entering the facility, soldiers sprayed disinfectant all over our clothes.
I took off my gas mask.
Overhead, the sun was slowly rising.
Director General Geum, the National Intelligence Service Science and Technology Headquarters official I’d seen before, was on site. I wasn’t really in the mood for formalities.
I laid out my raincoat and sat on the ground.
“Hello, Doctor.”
“Yes.”
“We were monitoring the operation via drone. The area was foggy, the operation happened inside the building, and there was some strange electromagnetic interference, so it was hard to get a clear read on the situation…”
I nodded.
“Still, we confirmed that you eliminated dozens of monsters at Kaeseong Station. From a military perspective, that’s the equivalent of an entire division. At least, that’s what they said.”
“Is it possible to retrieve the monster remains left at Kaeseong Station? There’s quite a lot we left behind there.”
“I’ll look into it. With the current situation, it might be possible…”
He was probably referring to the fact that North Korea wasn’t doing anything.
As long as North Korea wasn’t responding to communications or conducting military activities near the DMZ, there was no real reason we couldn’t run operations across the border.
On the other hand, collecting monster byproducts from the ruins of Kaeseong Station probably wouldn’t be easy.
“Anyway… I’ll report to my superiors that this operation succeeded thanks to you, Doctor. Thank you for your hard work.”
Still sitting, I nodded slowly.
We took too many risks in this operation.
There could have been a better way—though if we had been even a few hours later, those insect monsters might have landed at Gimpo…
***
Supernatural Science Research Institute.
Today’s research subject was the weapons recovered from Awakened.
These were items retrieved from Kaeseong Station and the fake Gate.
Except for what the Puppet Master and the Holy Knight took, about twenty or so paranormal weapons were on the workbench.
Each weapon was carefully wrapped. Just in case they broke during transport, everything was packed up like this.
Let’s see.
There might be some high-quality goods hiding in here.
Most of the weapons Hunters use are melee. The System usually gives you a sword or a spear first.
[Greatsword of a Certain Swordsman]
[Rank: C]
[A Hunter’s bound weapon, which appeared at the same time as awakening. A regular Hunter greatsword capable of containing Aether. Currently, the sword’s creator has died.]
The person was dead, but the sword remained.
Still, it was made of material containing Aether, so it might come in handy if I keep it.
[Spear Blessed by Atlanaka]
[Rank: A]
[A weapon blessed by a divine entity. It holds great power, and may bestow abilities depending on the user.]
It didn’t say what ability it granted.
The Explorer trait, in the end, was similar to a gamble. How useful the information you got was, and how much you could glean, was variable.
The answer changed depending on the situation, your mental state, what you were curious about, and how much you already knew.
A complicated issue in many ways. On the other hand—
There had been a hypothesis presented since before my regression.
That every Gate had a divine entity whose name was bound to it.
“It might be something along those lines.”
Still, I didn’t really need some huge, flashy weapon.
Maybe I’d cut it up and use it for something else.
Carrying around a spear like that was just too cumbersome.
[Sword Blessed by Atlanaka]
[Rank: S]
[A weapon blessed by a higher divine entity. It holds great power, and may bestow abilities depending on the user.]
This was the weapon I was looking for.
In the last few battles, whenever the enemy got close, I couldn’t do anything myself—I always needed someone else to step in.
So, I needed a close-range weapon I could wear or keep in my inventory and use in emergencies.
“Ming.”
Ming Ming had come to the lab with me.
She kept her distance from the Hunter weapons. She looked on with curiosity, but only from afar.
“What do you think?”
“Ming.”
“You want me to cut the tip of the sword and make a bayonet out of it?”
That was a good idea. If I turned an Awakened weapon into a bayonet, I could mount it on my gun and handle close-quarters combat much more easily.
“And I’d have more options.”
I gathered the materials and started modifying the Hunter Rifle.
This time, I’d attach rails to the top and bottom so I could add equipment like a modern firearm. I’d also add a mount so I could fix the bayonet.
I completely disassembled the Hunter Rifle. Its basic principle was similar to an ordinary gun.
There were coils attached to the barrel, and the difference was that Aether, instead of electricity, accelerated the bullets.
Since I had recovered several kinds of Magic Stones, I could use those to boost output.
Of course, with increased output, I’d have to add a recoil control device and replace the coils, too.
The gun kept getting bulkier.
Long coils attached to the inside of the barrel, Magic Stones connected together…
And in the end, the finished product looked like some bizarre, rectangular gun straight out of a sci-fi novel.
I couldn’t help it—I needed something a human could carry, powerful enough to pierce magic shields, and with firepower on par with anti-tank weapons.
Now, it was similar to the gun I’d used before regression.
“Ming Ming, do you remember?”
“Ming?”
Remember the Living Armor and the giant insect monster? You couldn’t handle them with just the old Hunter Rifle, could you?”
Both monsters had thick armor that wasn’t fazed by bullets.
Even if I’d brought other modern weapons, the results probably wouldn’t have been much different.
Ming Ming nodded enthusiastically.
That’s why I needed greater firepower than before.
I myself had to become stronger than I was in the past.
Things were only going to get worse from here on…
The battle would continue.
Gates would inevitably open again.
More monsters would try to cross the border.
“Perfect.”
I couldn’t test-fire it indoors, but the work was just about done.
I hefted the gun once.
It seemed fine for now…
[Magic Engineering Railgun]
[Rank: S]
[A weapon that embodies the pinnacle of humanity’s scientific and magical research. It can pierce both magical and physical defenses at the same time.]
The item’s rank had risen.
It was about time. It had already been quite a while since the Gate incident began.
I was ahead of where I’d been before regression, but if I thought about it, before regression humanity barely survived extermination.
It was too soon to be satisfied with being just a little ahead of last time.