Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

075 – First Seal Release

Ho-chang followed Myung-jun’s orders and left the battlefield with Perera, Aurelian, and Sven.

Then, Soo-jeong sent Shadow Hawk to Ho-chang so that he could transport the wounded.

However, even as Ho-chang and Soo-jeong tended to the wounded in front of them, Banara did not launch any attacks.

Not because he wanted to give his opponent some break, but because he afraid of Myung-jun’s actions at the moment he moved.

The energy coming from Myung-jun right now was that chilling. He had forcibly drawn out nearly half of the power from his main body, enduring a massive penalty. It made him think that the upcoming battle wouldn’t be easy.

“Wait here for a moment.”

“It’s Dangerous! Miss Soo-jeong!”

“But I have to go!”

Soo-jeong, who had landed Night Hawk on the battlefield to tend to the wounded, showed an uneasy expression but ran towards Myung-jun.

Approaching Myung-jun, who was still looking at Banara.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s dangerous here. Senior.”

“I know. But…”

Soo-jeong, about to say something more, closed her mouth. Then, grabbing Myung-jun’s hand.

“Can we win?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

“….”

Myung-jun didn’t respond. The words ‘See you later’ came up to his throat, but even he couldn’t be sure if he could keep that promise.

His decision carried that much risk. Ultimately, without hearing Myung-jun’s response to her words about waiting, Soo-jeong had to move her unrelenting steps away.

It was because she could feel with her skin that the formidable opponent on the other side of Myung-jun, the transcendent powerhouse, was calculating the timing to start the attack.

The only action Soo-jeong could take was to kiss Myung-jun’s cheek, who was only looking at Banara.

“Win.”

When Soo-jeong finished speaking and quickly returned to the airship, Banara spoke.

“A good ally.”

“More than I deserve.”

“Well, shall we begin now?”

Confirming that Soo-jeong on the Shadow Hawk was far enough away, Myung-jun nodded towards Banara. Then, a colossal energy, similar to when Banara broke Ho-chang’s shield earlier, erupted from Banara’s entire body.

Beyond the level visible to the naked eye, it was a monstrous energy that shattered everything around it, a devastating wave of martial energy.

Myung-jun, still without any armor on his body, observed Banara preparing for the attack.

However, contrary to Myung-Jun’s gaze, his consciousness was looking at a giant door within his inner self.

A door.

Inside the deep recesses of his mind, he slowly raised his hand towards a door embedded with six massive gray crystals.

At that moment, a voice heard after a long time halted Myung-Jun’s actions.

“Are you sane?!”

Hearing a voice that sounded like a boy’s, or perhaps a girl’s voice, Myung-Jun opened his mouth toward the owner of that voice.

“Keeper.”

“You haven’t forgotten the name, huh?”

“There’s no way I could forget. But why are you stopping me?”

“Gosh, except for the name, did you forget everything? When you first gained the ability, what did I say? That it would end at borrowing knowledge, and never to touch Cain’s legacy? Yet here you are, trying to release the first seal when the festival hasn’t even begun?”

“So, you’re silent all this time and now you’re trying to stop me?”

“Do you think I’ve been silent without reason? When breaking the Time Keeper’s rules to reverse the universe’s time, I thought you were my partner, respecting my decisions. But how was it in reality? You indulged in the sweetness of liberation and devoured Cain’s legacy despite my warnings!”

Facing the torrent of words like a machine gun from the Keeper, Myung-Jun spoke.

“If you’re so talkative, how did you manage to keep quiet until now?”

“Are you curious about that now?! You numskull! That’s something you should never touch! Do you think I’ve just been silent because I’m annoyed? While you were having a blast outside, I had to tirelessly hide your ability among countless star searching for Cain’s legacy!”

Before Myung-Jun could say anything, the Keeper poured out their words as if bursting with pent-up emotions.

“But you want to break the seal altogether? Why? You’d rather advertise it. In the 422nd universe, near the Great Magellanic Cloud, in a small star system next to Earth, there’s a successor of Cain’s legacy!”

“There’s no other way.”

“Run away.”

“What?!”

“I’m saying run away. Even if you don’t directly use Cain’s legacy, you can become strong enough with knowledge alone. Utilize the abilities of your ally, Soo-jeong, and albeit slowly, you’ll eventually gain power equal to Cain’s legacy! Then, you can fulfill your purpose of protecting Earth without being toyed with by that damn Goddess of Liberation.”

However, despite the Keeper’s earnest plea after a long time, Myung-Jun shook his head in refusal.

“I refuse.”

“What?!”

“I said I refuse, Keeper. Before going back, I spent over twenty years locked in an underground place without a window. And all of that was for the ‘greater good’. Humans who came to persuade me always said that. Because of my sacrifice, numerous lives could be saved.”

“And you didn’t agree with that opinion?”

“Of course not! Humans who force others to do things they don’t want to always have their reasons. Sometimes for the country, sometimes for family, sometimes for promotion. And the one receiving the proposal is always confined by the chains of the present situation.”

‘Anyway, rebellion is impossible.’

‘Anyway, I have no choice.’

Amidst the incessant ‘inescapable situations’, Myung-Jun yearned for freedom.

The freedom to choose what he wanted.

The freedom to assert his will unbroken by any reality.

And the strength to protect that freedom.

Humans bestowed with the protection of Myung-Jun’s Guardian, the ‘Oath Keeper’, gain strength when they keep their words. And when pressured by external forces or due to their situation, if they cannot keep their promises, they experience stress instead.

Even when someone else didn’t keep their oath to oneself, Myung-Jun experienced stress just the same.

For him, the situation where ‘discharge’ promised to himself in exchange for two years of military service was endlessly postponed, caused immense stress.

Moreover, not being able to keep the promise with his younger sister about returning home after discharge also brought tremendous stress.

Over the course of 20 years, this stress had planted a kind of trauma in Myung-jun’s heart. As the situation turned unfavorable or when irrationality was imposed by the surroundings, he exhibited a peculiar trauma that made him act in the opposite direction.

And Myung-jun’s new personality was one that detested confinement and obligations, favoring a liberated manner.

‘Come to think of it, this kid was like this even before awakening. He was bold enough to confront the transcendent being, King Enclave, one of the Twelve Heavenly Lords.’

Keeper recalled the first meeting with Enclave.

The moment when Soo-jeong and Ho-chang, fleeing from the pursuer, reached the place where Myung-jun was, and at that moment, when Myung-jun, despite being a non-awakened, defeated a Rank 3 monster and reached for the Mud Giant’s core.

That moment was the biggest crisis Myung-jun faced after his regression.

“Stop right there. If you don’t want to die, stay right there.”

When Myung-jun tried to touch the crystal stone to awaken, the one who appeared inside the gate was Enclave, known as the Queen of Shadow.

Enclave, who appeared in the form of a young woman about 17 years old, was a kind of hired killer sent directly by the Hero’s Star, who realized he had been deceived by Keeper and Myung-jun.

Moreover, the summoned Enclave was powerful enough to casually play with the life of an non-awakener like Myung-Jun.

The worst part about her appearance for Myung-jun was that her hobby was enjoying the sight of the opponent writhing in pain and despair.

“Ugh!”

Having spent all the crystal stone points on hunting mud giants, Myung-Jun appeared insignificant to her eyes.

Of course, no matter how many points he had, even if he had encountered her after awakening, she was an opponent Myung-Jun could never defeat. She bound the helpless Myung-Jun with shadows and mercilessly slashed him with sharp nails extended from her delicate fingers.

“Ugh!”

“Oh my? Darling. You can scream if it hurts, you know?”

“G…gh…”

“Your mouth is dirty.”

“Ugh!”

Myung-jun, who wouldn’t even scream in pain, impressed her. She proposed to Myung-jun, asking if he had any thoughts of becoming a member of the Shadow Tribe. Of course, behind that proposal was the condition ‘if you refuse, you die.’

Myung-jun, knowing that fact, flatly rejected her offer while saying, ‘Just kill me.’ It was a decision that embodied Myung-jun’s will not to make a choice forced by others again, but it also provoked the wrath of Enclave, who offered a glorious proposal to a being equivalent to an ant.

In the end, Enclave aimed her sharp nails at Myung-jun’s heart with a chilling gaze.

“Enough. It’s getting dirty for no reason. I tried to pick you up, even if it’s against his will, but it seems like you are a foolish being is seeking death.”

Even though he had turned back time to the past, facing a futile death, what saved Myung-jun was the Goddess of Liberation. At the moment of crisis, she not only rescued Myung-jun but also healed his wounds in an instant, returning the scars engraved on Myung-jun to Enclave’s flawless white skin.

Of course, Enclave, as the owner of the universe, tried her best to fight against the Goddess of Liberation. However, between the two, there was an insurmountable ‘difference in rank’.

In the end, barely saving her life, Enclave opened a dimensional portal and escaped. The Goddess of Liberation offered Myung-Jun a new ability, one powerful enough for him to maintain his choices even before a Guardian. When the Keeper heard the name of the ability she intended to give, he panicked and stopped Myung-Jun.

“No! Absolutely not! Anything else is fine, but not that! That’s a poisoned chalice! No, worse than a poisoned chalice! The moment you receive that! You’ll become a target for the entire universe!”

The Keeper even showed anger towards the Goddess.

He argued that the originally promised ability should suffice, questioning why she intended to offer a different one. This act was, in essence, a ‘blasphemous’ act towards a Guardian, yet the Goddess of Liberation didn’t blame the Keeper. Asserting one’s opinion in front of an overwhelming presence was one of the behaviors the Goddess admired.

Upon hearing her words, the Keeper became more excited, but despite his fervent protests, Myung-Jun, calmer than ever, asked the ‘God’ in front of him.

“If I receive this ability, can I truly become a target for the entire universe, as the Keeper says?”

“Depending on your choices afterward, it might be so.”

“I have one more question. Even in such a situation, with this ability, can I fulfill my choices? Even if it means turning the entire universe against me?”

“If your will is so, Cain’s Legacy will channel your will with all its might. Even against the universe or even a God.”

“Then I’ll accept it.”

That was what happened to Myung-Jun ‘that day’. And despite the Keeper’s warnings, he disregarded them and impulsively received Cain’s Legacy.

However, the situation was dire enough that the Keeper had to emerge within Myung-Jun’s consciousness. Myung-Jun was attempting to ‘release’ the seal of a dangerously powerful ability he possessed.

“Please… please don’t.”

Whispering as he heard the beseeching voice of the Keeper, Myung-Jun quietly murmured.

“I’m sorry.”

Reaching for the lowest bead, he spoke again.

“I tend to want to do more when told not to.”

The moment Myung-Jun’s hand touched the bead, a single message spread beyond the infinite parallel universe walls.

To some races, it felt like an ominous sensation, to others, unreadable characters, and to some, a faint itchiness. Simultaneously, countless system messages appeared before Myung-Jun’s eyes, unfolding like a game interface.

[Keeper’s Legacy – First seal has been released.]

[User confirmation – Succession process completed.]

[Access to Keeper’s Legacy is available from this moment forward.]

[Currently open Legacy: Knight Protocol]

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