Chapter 20

Chapter 7. Item Making, Part II

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

4.

Kim Tae-hoon was looking at the pictures on his smartphone.

——

[Hobgoblin’s Crystal]

– The skill of Mana increases when ingested.

– The skill of Mana Resistance increases when ingested.

– The power of a Hobgoblin [Hobgoblin’s Sense] can be acquired when ingested.

——

Kim Tae-hoon’s fingers flicked through the picture.

——

[Hobgoblin’s Horn]

– The horn of Hobgoblin has a mysterious power. Some of the effects of that power are exercised when ingested.

——

He flipped the picture again.

——

[Basic Abilities]

– Strength: 69

– Health: 45

[Special Abilities]

– Energy: E rank

– Mana: E+ Rank

– Telekinesis: A Rank

– Defense: E Rank

– Mana Resistance: E+ rank

[Achieved abilities]

– Black Skin (Grade 6)

– The vitality of Troll (Grade 6)

– Hobgoblin’s Sense (Grade 6): You can sense and understand the presence of a stronger enemy than yourself earlier and more accurately.]

——

Kim Tae-hoon took his eyes off his smartphone when he got to the picture with the mark of his right hand.

Kim Tae-hoon looked up.

He saw a fairly wide training ground, the bodies of the monsters all over the ground, soldiers atop the corpses and practicing the dissection of corpses to get the hearts out, and soldiers who had already come out of the area and smoking with bloody hands.

He listened to them talking.

“Huh, I didn’t know I’d dissect monsters in my life. My hands are still shaking.”

“So are mine.”

“Shit, but this damn hard work makes the cigarette taste excellent, excellent.”

The faces of the soldiers spitting out cigarette smoke were fatigued.

“It has been a really long damn day.”

“Has it been a day?”

“I think the clock is wrong.”

“I can’t believe it’s January 1st. It seems that it’s been about ten years.”

It was a day of eternity.

—

The traces were also on Kim Tae-hoon’s face.

‘A day has passed.’

Kim Tae-hoon could not easily believe that the year he looked up and was prepared to fall was the New Year, 2017.

A long sigh came from his mouth. White breath steamed in front of him.

Memories of the past began to grow dim after hard work and proper rest for more than 24 hours.

The faces of many people came to his mind. Now the faces could only be seen in memory. At the same time, his expression hardened.

A woman approached Kim Tae-hoon.

“We’ve divided and loaded the weapons into the dump truck, two military trucks, and four SUVs.”

It was Lieutenant Kim Soo-ji.

“Well done.” He was sitting on a crudely-made wooden bench and gave a short answer to Kim Soo-ji’s words. He did not turn his gaze to her.

Kim Soo-ji looked down at him silently without turning around. Kim Tae-hoon finally spoke up.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

“May I know what your rank is?”

“It’s Major.”

“Ah.”

Kim Soo-ji nodded, unsurprised at his words.

Major… She didn’t know his age.

However, Kim Tae-hoon did not look very old, around the early thirties, so she was surprised.

The rank of major in the Korean army is that of a soldier who takes an elite course within the shortest period of time possible.

Moreover, it is the best elite course ever, where he has been promoted without a single stop. If someone took such an elite course, his name would be known early in the military.

She bet if Kim Tae-hoon did normal activities as an officer, he would never have become a major.

In other words, all the activities Kim Tae-hoon had done so far are not normal.

“Excuse me, can you tell me who you served under?”

“I served under Major General Chang Young-sung, and it’s meaningless to ask further.”

“What do you mean, it’s meaningless?”

“There will be no official documents to find and read. No matter what I say, there is no evidence to prove I exist.”

“I don’t care about the evidence.”

When Kim Soo-ji kept pressing, Kim Tae-hoon raised his head and looked at her. He could see her eyes were determined.

‘I do not think that Brigadier General Kim Jae-ryong would tell a good story about Major General Jang Young-sung.’

Her grandfather, Brigadier General Kim Jae-ryong, would know full well the role of Major General Chang Young-sung.

That’s why he must have warned his granddaughter, “Don’t get involved with major general Chang Young-sung in any way.”

Nevertheless, she asked the questions. It meant that she was fully prepared.

Kim Soo-ji was a model of a woman soldier who thought it was a sin to ask questions to her boss.

Therefore, Kim Tae-hoon told her about his affiliation. “A secret unit created to assassinate or destroy the factors or groups that threaten the nation. The unit that doesn’t even have a name is my affiliation.”

And that brief explanation was enough to guess what Kim Tae-hoon has been doing as a soldier.

At the same time, she could fully guess that Kim Tae-hoon was a member of such a secret special unit and had a rank that did not fit his age. It was evidence of his outstanding activities beyond active duty.

In addition, Kim Soo-ji could understand the meaning of the warning that her grandfather gave.

“Thank you for telling me.”

He closed his eyes without answering.

When he closed his eyes, he remembered the faces that had just come up with, the faces he could only remember now. They spoke to him.

‘You must survive, at least you must survive, the boss should survive, and at least you will survive…’

Kim Tae-hoon swallowed a bitter smile at the words.

‘I didn’t become a soldier to survive, but from a certain moment surviving became my sole purpose.’

Kim Tae-hoon talked, swallowing a bitter smile.

“Is that the end of the questions?”

Kim Soo-ji seemed to think this was an opportunity, and immediately asked another question. “Why did you organize a private organization called a clan? You could act in the name of the army.”

“If I work in the name of the army, I cannot go hunting monsters without ignoring the people and the nation. Of course, if I look at what the ROK military has done in the meantime, it will not be a big flaw if I go kill monsters in the name of the military.”

Kim Tae-hoon did not add that as he violated the spirit of the military to live, he could call it a real desire to keep living. Even if he did not add that, the meaning would be enough.

“Boss.” An uninvited guest appeared.

Jang Sung-hoon appeared, and Kim Soo-ji looked at him with a sullen expression.

The sudden appearance of an uninvited guest, and the title Jang Sung-hoon used for Kim Tae-hoon, seemed to be unsatisfactory to her.

“Can I make a suggestion?” Jang Sung-hoon asked directly, without paying much attention to Kim Soo-ji.

“Can I use the monster skin to make a guard?”

Kim Tae-hoon managed to look surprised.

“I didn’t think of it. I was just talking to the other soldiers. The world has changed like a game, and I have been told that we can make items from monsters.

“In the game, we make items with monsters, so we wondered if it would work in reality. We want to try making a protector with monster skin.”

It was a ridiculous idea.

“No, what is it…” Kim Soo-ji tried to spit out a denial reflexively because it was so ridiculous.

But Kim Tae-hoon’s thoughts were different.

‘The Black Orc’s skin was very tough and strong.’

The strength of monsters was not the same as the strength of the beasts that humanity had already met. Their skin was strong enough to hold stop bullets.

That was why it was meaningful.

Even if we look at human history, it was a serious idea. Humanity was weak, and its weakness had been reinforced by the strong parts of other animals.

With the poison of poisonous creatures, the skin of beasts with tough hides, and the ivory of fierce beasts with sharp teeth, they made tools and weapons, and they eventually survived.

It was not strange that the source was changed to a monster, but it is natural that mankind must choose to survive.

“What tools do you need?”

“To be honest, we can’t make even a pair of clumsy shoes with the tools we have now.”

“So…”

“But there’s an Ojung-dong industrial complex right in front of the base, and if we have the materials, we could build a nuclear bomb. We can get there on foot in about twenty minutes from the base.”

The tools were enough.

“What about a craftsman?” All that remained were the craftsmen.

“Is there anyone with gold spoons in the army who don’t have oil on their hands and who only spend all their money? The army is for the people who come to work hard and have oil on their hands. It would be strange if there were no craftsmen from the factory, and if not, there would be survivors in the industrial complex, and they will be able to help us.”

Kim Tae-hoon stood up, nodding his head.

‘I guess it’s not yet time for bed…’

5.

Making clothes using animal skin was not something they could do overnight.

The skinning process required highly skilled techniques and sophisticated tools, and a considerable amount of time, as well as the equivalent of technology and medicine, to dry the skin even after it was peeled off.

Of course, it was impossible to make a protector with the monster skin in a short time.

Kim Tae-hoon also did not intend to leave the base immediately.

It was necessary to move together, and above all, the armor made with Goblin skin was not proven to be urgently needed.

They need to assess the utility value of Goblin skin.

—

Pook! Pook!

“How about that?”

“Where there are about three layers, a knife doesn’t get through.”

“Three overlapping sheets would be fairly thick, and I don’t think that’s going to get a Goblin tooth on it.”

“But if we overlap three sheets, we can’t move because it’s too heavy.”

“Our main weapon is a gun, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be all right if we could aim?”

“Honestly, this is better than a bulletproof suit. Anyway, the monsters won’t shoot.”

Kim Tae-hoon tested those things with his soldiers: how tough the crudely peeled Goblin skin was, and how much unprocessed Goblin skin was needed for armor.

In the meantime, it was none other than Ahn Sun-mi who made a valid item.

“It’s a medicine pill that combines the horn of the Hobgoblin, the flesh of the Mud Troll, and therapy water made by a Glass of Therapy.”

Ahn Sun-mi showed off a pill of bottle cap size and took a picture of it with a smartphone camera.

[Effect]

– Resistance to fear increases slightly.

– Recovery ability is slightly increased.

– Concentration is slightly improved during battle.

– Pain decreases slightly.

– Health is consumed quickly.

Ahn Sun-mi made an item using the materials from monsters Kim Tae-hoon’s clan had acquired so far.

What a useful item!

‘It’s better than I thought.’

When dealing with monsters, guns were a very powerful weapon.

With a well-armed single platoon, they could handle a hundred monsters, if they were trained and commanded well.

The problem is that when monsters such as Black Orc and Mud Troll appeared, they caused fear when they screamed.

Even Awakeners stiffened up as soon as they were exposed to the fear.

This fear was not something which could be mentally resisted. The energy rank was important. If the energy rank was high, the fear could be ignored, endured, or recovered from quickly.

Therefore, no matter how large an army was organized, if the average person had a low energy rank, or did not have such a thing, they’d be taken out instantly. It was one of the biggest reasons why Kim Tae-hoon was wary of the monsters.

In such a situation, the pills made by Ahn Sun-mi were light and salt!

What if this pill gave Awakeners and the average person tolerance, resistance, and recovery against the fear?

‘It depends on the effectiveness, but the tactics and firepower available would be greatly increased if the average soldiers or the low-ranking Awakeners could resist the fear.’

Of course, for a more powerful medicinal effect, a more powerful monster had to be caught, and clinical trials required confirming the effect according to the dose, and whether there were any side effects.

It is clear that Ahn Sun-mi had done a great deal of work.

“You’ve made a new medicine, you name it.”

“Yes?”

“We’ll have to make a lot of similar things in the future, and we’ll need names to sort them out.”

“I know, well… but I’m a doctor.”

The answer to such a proposal came from the mouth of another person. “I’d call it Sun-mi Dan after your name, and it’s intuitive and good, isn’t it?”

“Do you want to die?” Ahn Sun-mi looked at Bang Hyun-wook, who was talking bullshit.

Bang Hyun-wook turned his attention to Kim Tae-hoon to avoid her eerie gaze.

“Big brother, wouldn’t it be better for us to name our clan than the name of this medicine now? Or do you have a name already?”

At the question, Kim Tae-hoon rubbed his chin.

He didn’t think about that part. What Kim Tae-hoon needed was not the name of the clan, but rather the clothes he should wear, instead of an army uniform.

But as Bang Hyun-wook said, he could not just say “clan” without a name.

A name was very important for any force!

“I have a good name because I learned some Chinese characters, and the light illuminates the road, Road Light, how about it?”

“It’s a bit weird.” Ahn Sun-mi shot it down immediately.

“So, sister, do you have a good name?”

“Just naming a cigarette would be better than that crap.”

“Marlboro Clan?”

Ahn Sun-mi turned her head as if she did not even want to deal with Bang Hyun-wook anymore. The two were apparently quarreling brothers and sisters.

Of course, Kim Tae-hoon also ignored Bang Hyun-wook’s words. At least, it was clear that Bang Hyun-wook’s suggestions would never help name the clan.

In the end, Kim Tae-hoon asked for help from someone with the most literary and archaeological knowledge in the clan.

“Clan’s name? I’ve forged someone else’s name, but it’s the first time I named a clan. Wouldn’t it be bad luck for a human who has forged art to make a name for a clan?” Jang Sung-hoon laughed at Kim Tae-hoon’s request. “So, what do you want?”

“Which one is better?”

“Normally, these battle groups are named after a mythical animal. Three-legged Crow, Hatch, Mac, and even the Four Mythical Animals are childish but surprisingly fine. I like the Vermillion Bird, the Vermillion Bird!”

“What are its characteristics?”

“When you’re naming, it’s best to remember and say it easily, because it’s all about meaning.”

At his words, Kim Tae-hoon picked a word that didn’t worry him. “Mac.”

The word he chose was Mac.

“What is the characteristics of Mac, a mythical animal?”

“It’s different from country to country, but it’s usually known as a mythical animal which eats nightmares. Mac clan, that’s not bad. So where is the next destination of our Mac clan? Are we going to the industrial complex, or…?”

“We’re going to Bucheon Stadium tomorrow morning.”

The next destination of the Mac clan was Bucheon Stadium, where the bow museum was located!