Chapter Prologue

Chapter Prologue

On a pitch-black night where even the faint moonlight was obscured by clouds, it seemed impossible to see even an inch ahead.

A small snake slithered through the bushes, moving forward.

Then, raising its head, it emitted soft hisses, a strong warning sound against the surrounding commotion.

Two years from hatching out of an egg to reaching its current size.

Enduring two winters and shedding its skin multiple times, the snake’s eyes held sights imperceptible to humans.

In the jet-black darkness where nothing was visible, the snake observed the massive beings radiating heat from all directions.

The colossal structures adorned with long steel rods above its head, and the two-legged creatures hustling around them.

Normally, the snake would never come close to such a noisy place.

However, a unique scent of blood that the split forked tongue of the snake sensed was drawing the small creature toward the massive steel structure, as if it were being enticed to plunge into it.

‘Dangerous’

Inside the small triangular skull of the little snake, its tiny brain was incessantly sounding alarms, yet the snake didn’t halt its progression, sliding forward.

The potent scent of blood that suggested a potential kill paralyzed its rationality.

It knew it was dangerous.

Yet, the snake had a corner of faith.

It was now engulfed in the pitch-black darkness, and the numerous humans bustling ahead couldn’t discern a lurking presence like itself.

Moving its body nimbly, gifted with a silent-moving physique in place of the four-legged gods, the snake hastened toward the source of the scent.

And in the moment, it lifted its head again, the small snake felt a fleeting disconnection of consciousness linked to its body.

With the peculiar sensation from torn flesh and shattered spine, the snake’s head hit the ground with a distinctive thud.

‘How Did They Know?’

The snake couldn’t comprehend it.

In such a tumultuous environment, a human who couldn’t see through the darkness had somehow sensed its presence.

The snake shifted the scales attached to its nearly severed neck, trying to turn its gaze, and looked at the human who stared at it with cold eyes.

Then, as if startled, it dilated its vertically split pupils.

The eyes of the human that met the snake’s gaze.

They were exactly the same as its own eyes, evolved to perceive ‘heat’ even in the darkness of the night.

‘Why do humans have eyes like that?’

The snake wanted to think further, but it couldn’t continue its train of thought any longer.

The cold blood that should have been coursing through its brain was escaping endlessly through the severed neck.

Gradually, vitality faded from the snake’s pupils.

And then, a man in military attire, wearing infrared goggles, removed the short dagger that had severed the snake’s neck from the ground.

“Why are there so many damn snakes?”

“Number 38. You should’ve kept quiet during the operation.”

“Warning not to speak is also considered speaking. Besides, we are the only ones in this place. All living creatures within a 4 km radius have been blocked from approaching. And even the only snake inside this space, I just ended its life a moment ago, sir. Don’t worry too much, Lieutenant. We’ve done this hundreds of times before, and we’ve never had an accident.”

“Is there really nothing else nearby?”

The soldier addressed as Lieutenant asked the man with the snake eyes, who nodded.

“I swear on my eyes.”

“Those eyes are a Gift too, right?”

“Yes. It’s an awakened ability that holds the power of life form tracking. If there’s an animal within a 5 km radius, whether it’s a hibernating frog or ant larvae moving eggs underground, I can see them all.”

“But you can’t see what’s outside your field of vision, can you?”

“That’s not exactly it. It’s a difficult sensation to explain, so we say ‘see,’ but it’s more accurate to say ‘detect.’ Quite literally, I can ‘know’ all the animals that enter my area. And as you know, this area has been thoroughly cleared of any ant larvae for the operation.”

“But there was a snake.”

“Yes, I was aware of that. But I purposely left it alone until it came closer to me. If I move, the center of my detection range moves with me. If a human enters my area, I should kill them immediately, but this is a snake, isn’t it? I didn’t want to leave my position while contorting the boundary zone.”

“I understand. You seem quite skilled at this sort of thing.”

“It’s my profession. By the way, since a while ago, unlike usual, I’ve been sensing human presence inside this helicopter. The job of a delivery driver doesn’t exist in our operations, does it?”

“This delivery is a bit special. The ‘material’ we’re going to move this time is a special substance that can only be preserved by parasitizing the human body. The moment it falls off a living body, it withers and dies. So, this time, we’re making a special exception by ignoring the regulations.”

“If you’re ignoring the regulations..., are you planning to go to ‘that place’ with the material inside you? We can’t even access that place, can we?”

“Well, it’s been decided that way. We’re soldiers after all. We don’t need to understand everything. Just follow orders, that’s all.”

At that moment, the rotors of the spinning helicopter slowly came to a stop. The helicopter’s door opened, and a man in US military uniform walked out. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he seemed momentarily dizzy, shaking his head and looking around. Then, as if seeing a shared something being released from us, he could see a group of humans aiming various weapons at him.

Except for one person, all the Korean military soldier were wearing infrared goggles just like their own, and from among them, a man referred to as the platoon leader walked out and extended his hand.

“I’m Captain Park Yun Cheol, from the Korea Ministry of National Defense, Gate Response Strategic Research Institute. Welcome to South Korea.”

The US soldier, who had been concerned that language differences might make communication difficult, responded in English when the approaching man spoke to him. He maintained a neutral expression as he replied in English,

“I’m Lieutenant Carl Roland from the US Department of Defense. I appreciate your cooperation in processing the material.”

“Since the US is an ally of Korea, we should naturally provide necessary support.”This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

“I’d like to shake hands, but unfortunately, I have to hold the bag. And, as you already know, the other hand is...”

Upon hearing Roland’s words, Yun Cheol looked at Lieutenant Roland’s hand with sharp eyes. Then, he nodded and spoke to him.

“I understand. Is the material intact?”

“From what I’m sensing, yes. It seems to be asleep at the moment.”

“Asleep? You’re speaking as if it’s alive, even though it’s just a material.”

“It is alive. And when it’s awake, it even communicates with me inside my head.”

“Alive material. There must be a reason the headquarters went to the extent of making an exception for its transportation. You’ve been moving in the darkness for a long time, so it must be tough. If it’s okay with you, would you like to go to the research institute right away? We want to handle this matter as quickly as possible from our end.”

“That’s what I hoped for as well. Since the moment I transplanted ‘this’ into my palm. I’ve never had a comfortable sleep even once.”

“You’ve shown great courage. An ordinary person would never have been able to do what you did.”

“For the sake of the nation, we must do whatever it takes. That’s the loyalty a soldier owes to the country.”

“Number 27 and Number 38, follow me. The rest of you, eliminate any traces of the operation area and return to your respective perimeter areas. Thoroughly confirm if there are any witnesses within the operation area and, if there are any dangerous elements, make sure to eliminate them based on your personal judgment.”

“Understood!”

“Then, Lieutenant, please follow me. I’ll guide you to the research institute.”

With a black document bag in one hand, the Lieutenant followed behind the captain. As if holding onto something that shouldn’t be shown to others, he tightly clenched the fist of his other hand that dangled down.

In this manner, the two individuals who had met in the darkness disappeared back into the darkness, and moments later, the place they had been was left in complete silence.

Implying that an event had occurred in this location, only the well-preserved head of a small snake remained, as its lifeless body was elsewhere. Amidst the stifling silence where not even a breath could be heard, in the darkness shrouded by clouds, the dim moonlight illuminated the dead snake’s pupils.

“No one would imagine that such a facility exists beneath the Ministry of National Defense. How many floors deep underground is it, exactly?”

“It goes down to the 47th floor. Each floor’s boundaries are all composed of specialized composite armor, so even if a nuclear bomb were to explode, the area below would remain unaffected. Additionally, from the 37th to the 42nd floor, there’s an unstructured bedrock layer, and to pass through it, you must descend through crevices that appear like natural caves. This means that infiltrators who breach from the outside would see the 37th floor as the end of the structure, assuming they even know the way. The actual research lab is beneath that.”

“Is it okay to tell me that?”

“Either way, you and I need to descend to the lowest floor with the material. Since the material needs to be removed from the palm of your hand while you’re awake. If it’s information that needs to be disclosed anyway, it’s better to be transparent rather than causing unnecessary speculation. Moreover, the United States is currently one of Korea’s most important allies. Haven’t we united multiple times for large-scale Gate suppression operations recently? Also, most of the equipment used by higher-ranking members of the US military is made at this Gate Response Strategic Research Institute. So, it would be good to share everything openly during this opportunity.”

Guiding through the complex maze that looked like natural caves, the captain explained the facility to the Lieutenant. It was a story about the history of this research institute, which is currently evaluated as one of the most crucial facilities for humanity’s survival worldwide.

“As you know, human life has changed significantly after D-Day. The weapons that humanity had before that day were completely ineffective against the creatures pouring out from the Gates. The ‘safety’ and ‘order’ that humans had built up were also shattered by the monsters that defied the laws of physics. The only power humans had to oppose these monsters was the randomly manifested ‘Gift’ possessed by a small portion of individuals.”

“That was the case in the early days of the Gate incident. However, thanks to the ‘Biological Countermeasure Equipment’ developed by this Gate Response Strategic Research Institute, which can be used by civilians as well, now we can face the creatures coming out from the Gates even without having a Gift, right? The entire world benefits from this equipment. Of course, even the United States, as Korea’s biggest customer and ally, heavily relies on the equipment produced in Korea. Even I, as a Gifted Awakened and a regular hunter under the US Department of Defense, use equipment made here. Right now, this place can truly be called humanity’s treasure. If this research institute didn’t exist, humanity would have been wiped out by the creatures pouring out from the Gates in an instant.”

“That is a good point.”

After walking for a while, the two individuals arrived at a place where a massive steel door, seemingly designed not so much to fend off external attacks but to contain something trying to break out from the inside, stood before them.

In front of the massive steel door, Park Yun Cheol walked towards the special equipment set up for identity verification. Just before entering the rectangular boundary drawn on the floor, he turned to Roland and posed a question.

“May I ask, Lieutenant, how do you feel about the sacrifice of a few for the greater good of many?”

“Well, the United States fundamentally values individual freedom. No matter how much benefit it brings to the majority, sacrificing one person for the sake of everyone doesn’t seem morally right.”

Suddenly, Roland felt a heavy breath release from his chest. The man in front of him had just released the intense aura that had filled the spacious room moments ago.

Now, the man without that aura looked like a middle-aged man in his mid-50s with a full beard. At that moment, Myung-jun extended his hand without a hammer and spoke to Roland.

“Now, shall you show me the material?”

As Roland hesitated for a moment, he slowly extended his left palm. Within it, there seemed to be ‘something’ that resembled a gigantic creature’s pupil, wriggling and twisting in all directions as if in a frenzy.

“You brought it properly.”

“It’s my mission. Although it’s a challenging material to process, I’m sure you can handle it. Once you finish processing the material, the U.S. government will greatly appreciate it.”

“But it’s not me who will receive that appreciation. It’s the South Korean Ministry of National Defense.”

After saying that, Myung-jun suddenly clenched the eyeball in Roland’s left palm.

Before Roland could say anything, Myung-jun forcefully gripped and tore the eyeball embedded in his palm.

“Aaaah!!”

Imagining blood gushing from the large wound forming in his palm, Roland clenched his fist with his face contorted in pain. However, what he saw before his eyes was his palm returning to its intact state before ‘it’ had been inserted.

‘Material!’

Confirming that he didn’t feel any pain in his palm, Roland quickly raised his head. The eyeball he knew was embedded in his palm, a special material that died as soon as it detached from a living human.

But when Roland lifted his head, he saw ‘it’ still floating in midair, its gaze shifting around as if it were alive.

Seeing the material still in a state of seemingly being alive despite not being connected to a body, Roland shouted at Myung-jun as if yelling at a toy ball he was handling.

“It’s alive?”

“I used preservation skills. Initially, if an equipment required processing in the state where it’s embedded in someone else’s palm, it would be an unprocessable material. This material can only be processed when separated by a Master Creator of Rank 11 or higher. As far as I know, there are only two Master Creators of Rank 11 or higher in the world.”

“And one of them is you.”

“Yeah. But since I can’t leave this place, a living delivery box was inevitably required to bring the material here. And that’s the role you took on for this mission.”

“Then what remains is for Mr. Myung-jun to take the processed material back to our country.”

“No, that’s not the case.”

“Excuse me?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Right now, you’re in a secret space that Ministry of National Defense has concealed for over 30 years. And you’ve come to meet an existence known to only ten countries worldwide, carrying out a mission as a delivery box. It’s an obvious story, but a delivery box’s role is completed the moment it delivers the cargo to the customer. No one intends to return a used delivery box to the delivery company.”

“Are you saying...?”

“I naturally assumed you were participating in such a task, but you didn’t say anything, did you? This space is one that someone can enter alive but can’t leave alive. And you walked into such a space without any weapons, as a mere delivery box.”

“So, the U.S. Department of Defense knew I might die and still put me here?”

Myung-jun nodded his head.

Angry, Roland shouted at Myung-jun.

“That’s absurd! I’m not just an ordinary private, I’m a lieutenant! Moreover, I’m an Awakened! The U.S. Department of Defense is an organization that would throw away someone like me like a disposable item...!!”

Roland’s words were cut off.

As if he had ingested poison, his veins were turning violet, spreading across his face like a spiderweb.

However, Myung-jun’s gaze as he watched a person die before him was infinitely cold, as if he were merely observing an ordinary scene.

Myung-jun looked down at Roland, who was writhing on the ground as if scratching it with his nails, as if in agony, as if it were unjust. Then he closed the deceased lieutenant’s eyes gently with his fingers, muttering softly.

“Anyway, military organizations are the same in any country. They elevate human lives to the level of flies.”

Myung-jun’s gaze then shifted towards the ‘special material’ he had placed beside Roland’s lifeless body.

The only key to escape from the ‘damned military’ that treats human lives as insignificant as flies.

Now, his eyes, filled with a mixture of fear and apprehension, were fixed on the eyeball that was looking around as if in search of something, a once-living entity.

In front of Myung-jun, text resembling a game item description floated like a hologram.

[Material Name: Alvena’s Eye (Mythical Grade, Material)]

[Description: Core material required to create the mythical-grade equipment <Alvena’s Bow>

When processed by a Master Smith of Rank 12 or higher, it becomes a material for creating the mythical-grade item <Sentinel’s Insignia> through a special process.]

After gazing at it for a while, Myung-jun opened his right hand, which had been holding the hammer.

Then, as if mourning Roland’s death, he lowered his head and began to stare at his own palm as if captivated by it.

To thoroughly conceal his plans from any possible surveillance, as if hiding from a gaze that might still be observing him.

Turning his back to the camera and subtly shifting into its blind spot, Myung-jun’s palm, with its five circular scars like hollows that had been dug out as if for a rescue, was now visible on the camera.

Together with another status window that hung in the air, just like what he had seen when he gazed at Alvena’s Eye earlier.

[《 Sentinel’s Insignia (Mythical Grade, Unfinished) 》]

[Description: An item that allows the user to transfer their consciousness and abilities to a specific moment in time within a certain range of an era of anomaly.

While physical abilities cannot be transferred, it is possible to transfer abilities engraved on the soul back to the past.

An item desired by those who are more eager for a second life than their own lives, discarding a reality tinged with regrets.]

[Crafting Completion: 15%]

[Sentence Base Crafting: Completed

Alvena’s Eye: 0/1

Greta’s Fang: 0/1

Holorodr’s Heart: 0/1

Gorlion’s Beak: 0/1

Tolles’ Thorns: 0/1]

‘Regression...’

Upon seeing that word, memories of the countless battles he had fought in this space to escape came flooding back into Myung-jun’s mind.

Events like the incident where he armed himself with self-made equipment and blew up half of the Ministry of National Defense building, or the times when he had defeated three 11th rank hunters who came to stop him, Myung-jun had engaged in battles of extraordinary intensity that were almost unbelievable for a single human being. However, every time he returned from such endeavors, he was met with heightened surveillance and reinforced security measures that seemed impenetrable.

No matter how much of a <Master Smith> he might be at the pinnacle of humanity, there were limits to what he could achieve with his own body. Yet, he did not give up. If he failed at Rank 8, he tried at Rank 9; if he failed at Rank 9, he attempted at Rank 10. With each increase in the rank of his Master Smith skill, Myung-jun attempted new escape methods. When he reached Rank 12 and saw the newly unlocked item list, a new method of escape came to his mind.

It involved abandoning his current physical body and sending his consciousness and soul back to his past self. Correcting his mistakes that had led him to be trapped in the Ministry of National Defense’s underground for thirty years due to a momentary lapse. Myung-jun held the dagger next to him and looked at Alvena’s Eye. Then, with a gaze tinged with fear, he mercilessly swung at the colossal eye that stared at him.

In that instant, a piercing scream, as if tearing through space itself, resonated in Myung-jun’s ears even though his mouth hadn’t opened. He endured the auditory assault without changing his expression and roughly stirred the interior of the living eye with his fingers. Then, he retrieved a small green bead shining within the eye and placed it into the wound on his palm.

At that moment, an intense agony surged from Myung-jun’s palm. It was as if he could feel the same pain the eye had suffered when it was gouged out a little while ago. Amidst the excruciating pain that threatened to make him scream, Myung-jun desperately kept his body in place. He did so to deceive the gaze of ‘them,’ the ones who might be observing him through surveillance cameras.

Internally, Myung-jun fervently repeated to himself,

‘Endure it! Grit your teeth! You can’t scream. You must lower your head slightly and shake your body as if you’re grieving for the dead man next to you. Just like heaving sighs of pity. Don’t make any noise!’

Struggling between the instinct to scream right then and there and the rational need to avoid getting caught, Myung-jun applied intense pressure to his tightly shut lips.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of holding his incisors against his clenched jaw muscles, he felt a slight numbness in the jaw muscle that held his canines. It was enough to allow him to sense the diminishing pain in his palm, as if the agony he felt in the eye’s eye socket moments ago was being sucked away.

And the fact that he had successfully deceived the gaze that had been watching him. “If I had felt even a little suspicious, they would have stormed in immediately,” Myung-jun thought. He lifted Alvena’s Eye, which had lost its contents and become shriveled. Utilizing all the knowledge he possessed, he began crafting the ultimate weapon, utilizing the “remaining scraps.”

Although the most crucial essence was in his palm, with the skills of a 12th rank Master Smith, he could create a powerful weapon even with the remaining fragments. To deceive the eyes of “them” who held him captive, he needed to first fulfill their desires faithfully. By doing so, he would be able to obtain the rest of the required materials.

Myung-jun relentlessly swung his hammer, starting to hammer the steel fragment with the eyeball embedded in it. Beside Myung-jun, a small status window, visible only to him, silently displayed that he had taken one step closer to his goal.

[Crafting Completion: 25%]

[Sentence Base Crafting: 1/1 (Complete)

Alvena’s Eye: 1/1 (Complete)

Greta’s Fang: 0/1

Holorodr’s Heart: 0/1

Gorlion’s Beak: 0/1

Tolles’ Thorns: 0/1]

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