Like a breaking gla.s.s, the sky above cracked apart with black lines running through it .

Yi Hyeon-Seong stared at the heavens filling up with rifts and asked me . "Sergeant Kim Dok-Jnim? Are we really going to be alright?"

" . . . . "

I too had to look up after listening to him . The world seemed to be crumbling down .

The reason for that was clear – someone was attacking from the outside . Not just anyone, but incredibly powerful beings, no less .

I turned back and discovered my companions looking at me; Yu Jung-Hyeok, Han Su-Yeong, Yu Sang-Ah, Jeong Hui-Won . . . . .

I didn't have to say it, but we already knew what our choice would be .

"It'll be fine . Do you think I'm a sergeant just for a show? Don't worry about a thing . "

*

The sky was breaking down . Yet, how could he say it was all fine?

Yi Hyeon-Seong couldn't quite understand it . Was the military originally like this?

⸢Kim Dok-Ja simply smiled quietly . ⸥

A calm, collected smile floated upon his face .

Sergeant Kim Dok-Ja would only say this . "Even the squad leader will tell you it's fine . "

Indeed, the squad leader really did gather the soldiers in the training ground a short while later and began her speech .

She might be small-statured, but still, was overflowing with charisma . With an unreadable expression on her face, she scanned the rest of the troops and opened her mouth . "Your squad leader, me, is really disappointed in you . "

That unexpected opening caused the soldiers to tense up .

"You have not read webnovels during your downtime . "

Yi Hyeon-Seong inwardly flinched . It was true . Even yesterday, he didn't read webnovels during his break but practised the military gymnastics routine with Yu Jung-Hyeok .

"And so, this squad leader is planning to leave this base . "

Yi Hyeon-Seong became stupefied by that unexpected declaration .

… . She was leaving? Hushed murmurs could be heard coming from here and there .

"And Yi Hyeon-Seong . "

When he regained his wits, she was already beside him, her hand resting on his shoulder .

"Private second cla.s.s Yi Hyeon-Seong, ma'am!"

This would be his first time seeing her up close . Her name and rank could be seen on top of her neatly arranged uniform .

Captain Han Su-Yeong – that was her rank, and her name .

⸢"How long are you planning to stay dazed? You better start moving! You wish to see Kim Dok-Ja kicking the bucket?"⸥

Why was this? For a moment there, a stinging pain accompanied a set of strange memories brus.h.i.+ng past his mind .

What was that just now . . . . ?

"Look, you're stupefied again . "

"P-Private second cla.s.s Yi Hyeon-Seong!"

The squad leader stared at him with unreadable eyes before lightly patted him on his cheek . "You better read more books, okay? You're slow, so you simply have to read lots more books . You'll survive for longer that way . "

Squad leader Han Su-Yeong left behind indecipherable words and left the base .

*

Two days after Captain Han Su-Yeong left .

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The cracks in the skies were growing larger . It was like seeing the first signs of a world coming to an end .

"Yi Hyeon-Seong, have you memorised the exercise routine yet?"

He looked behind to discover Private first-cla.s.s Yu Jung-Hyeok .

"Private second cla.s.s Yi Hyeon-Seong! I've memorised everything!"

"You've filled up the army-issue canteen, too?"

"I've filled it up with exactly two litres!"

Yi Hyeon-Seong felt a bit scared by that pair of sharp, angry eyes . He hadn't made any mistakes, yet they remained critical .

"What about the barracks code of conduct?"

"P-Private second cla.s.s Yi Hyeon-Seong!! T-that, I haven't . . . . !"

The moment he said that, he inwardly went, oops, I'll get scolded again . He swallowed nervously and just as he tried to squeeze his eyes shut, heard Yu Jung-Hyeok's voice .

"You should be able to memorise it soon . It's not that long, anyway . "

" . . . . Pardon? Ah, you must've heard me wrong . No, I have not . . . !"

Advertis.e.m.e.ntWhat on earth was going on here? He made two consecutive mistakes just now, yet Yu Jung-Hyeok didn't criticise him .

Not only that, those scary eyes were no longer angry when looking back at Yi Hyeon-Seong .

"I will be s.h.i.+pping out tomorrow . "

" . . . . I don't quite follow, senior?"

"Yi Hyeon-Seong, you can't refer to the field manual on everything . You won't find a senior willing to aid you every single time . "

Why was this?

Why did Private first-cla.s.s Yu Jung-Hyeok's back turning around to leave feel so familiar to him?

"There will come a time when you must make a choice not found within the manual . "

Those were the last words left behind by the Private first-cla.s.s Yu Jung-Hyeok .

*

Members of the squad began disappearing one by one . First, it was Captain Han Su-Yeong, Private first cla.s.s Yu Jung-Hyeok, followed by Lieutenant Yu Sang-Ah . When he regained his wits, the non-commissioned officer, Sergeant first cla.s.s Jeong Hui-Won had become the squad's top presiding commander . (Even though the situation made no sense, Yi Hyeon-Seong told himself it couldn't be helped because it was emergency . )

Yi Hyeon-Seong's daily tasks after performing the morning and evening roll call were to check the base's infrastructure or accompany Sergeant Kim Dok-Ja to the barracks' library .

"The military nowadays even stock wuxia novels? Wow, this is a really old book, too . "

Kim Dok-Ja loved books . Actually, it went beyond a simple love affair – he was the kind of a man who spent the whole day reading books .

Yi Hyeon-Seong would sit next to him and quietly observe him excitedly flip the pages .

"Don't you want to read, too?"

"Uh, no, I, I'm . . . . "

Before Yi Hyeon-Seong could reply, yet another boom spread out from the sky .

Kim Dok-Ja's expression faintly hardened .

When the boom was heard for the first time four days ago, Captain Han Su-Yeong went away, and after the second boom two days ago, Private first cla.s.s Yu Jung-Hyeok disappeared next .

Yi Hyeon-Seong grew restless .

"Kim Dok-Ja Sergeant-nim . "

"Ng?"

"By any chance, are you also leaving, sir?"

People were leaving him behind . He was continuously losing something .

Kim Dok-Ja smirked softly . "Probably . I'm a sergeant already . I gotta get discharged soon . I'm definitely not planning to make a career out of this place . "

" . . . . . I see . "

"You also want to get out of here as soon as possible, right?"

Yi Hyeon-Seong was about to reply with, "Yes, I do", but then, his eyes suddenly caught the sight of barbed-wire fences outside the windows . They looked so st.u.r.dy and intimidating .

Why did he feel this, though? He felt fearful of going outside those fences .

"I . . . . "

If he carelessly went beyond the fences, he'd definitely get hurt . However, they would become barriers protecting him as long as he stayed inside .

When he thought like that, he felt his heart calm down .

The skies were falling . There was an unknown world outside where code of conduct for living in barracks or the military gymnastics exercise held no meaning .

He s.h.i.+fted his gaze back to discover Kim Dok-Ja staring at him . The sergeant's lips bobbed up and down as if he wanted to say something, but then, a sly grin suddenly formed on his lips . "Hey, if you wish to leave, you better read more books, man . "

" . . . . Will reading lots of books reduce the period of active service?"

Kim Dok-Ja's lips twitched after hearing that question . "Reading a book and writing a report on it might be enough to get you a vacation . "

A book report?

"See, there will be a book report contest being held within our division . Read that and apply for it . If yours get picked, you'll get time-off as a prize . "

The noticeboard Kim Dok-Ja pointed at had a poster advertising the army's book report contest . Yi Hyeon-Seong learned for the first time that such a thing existed .

Ah, so it was true, this book report thing . If he wrote that, he'd be able to earn some time off the base .

"When you're finished, you gotta let me read it, okay?"

It was after the following morning's roll call that sergeant Kim Dok-Ja had vanished .

*

"It's only us two remaining, so who cares about daily tasks?"

Sergeant first cla.s.s Jeong Hui-Won grumbled loudly .

Yi Hyeon-Seong smiled sheepishly and pulled out weeds growing near the base . "Well, we don't know what might happen, ma'am . The squad leader might suddenly return, and . . . . "

Jeong Hui-Won sat on a bench and while resting her chins on her hands, watched Yi Hyeon-Seong as if he was a mysterious new lifeform .

"Do you like this place?"

The usual Sergeant first cla.s.s wouldn't have used such a tone of voice . However, her voice still managed to elicit this inexplicable sense of longing in him .

Maybe it was that longing allowing him to reply honestly right away .

"It's neither like or dislike, ma'am . "

A place that he neither liked or disliked . That was exactly what Yi Hyeon-Seong's impression on the 'military' was .

"Except that, I don't have to think about anything while I'm here . "

That's right – that was the reason why he chose the army .

While he was here, he could forget about the outside world . Employment, enrolment, gazes of others, issues of the outside world, family affairs, dilemmas he could never solve no matter what he did .

" . . . . But then, I've been thinking lately that I kind of like it here . "

What did he exactly like about this place, anyway? He couldn't describe it properly .

⸢"I like you . "⸥

And why did his heart ache so much?

Sergeant first cla.s.s Jeong Hui-Won looking straight at him suddenly spoke up . "In that case, you stay here, Yi Hyeon-Seong . Wait for us until we come back . "

He couldn't reply with "I didn't quite catch you" .

Because he simply couldn't mishear what she was saying .

"We'll protect your world . "

The moment he wanted to say something, blinding rays of light poured down from the sky, and the Sergeant first cla.s.s Jeong Hui-Won disappeared from his view .

Ku-dududu . . . .

Before anyone had noticed it, the cracks in the skies had already swallowed up half of the heavens .

And so, Yi Hyeon-Seong became alone .

*

Just what am I doing?

Is this place really an army base?

The army that I knew is . . . . .

Yi Hyeon-Seong repeated his daily tasks and continued to protect the base with no one in it . He woke up at the fixed time, did his roll call, and did the military gymnastics routine . After that, he finished disciplining his mind and began his daily tasks .

However, he had no more things to do now . He even finished pulling out all the weeds found in the base yesterday .

" . . . . The book report . "

He belatedly recalled Kim Dok-Ja's words .

He was told to write a report . To read a book, and write his report on it .

Yi Hyeon-Seong went up to the barracks' library . As if to let the world know that Kim Dok-Ja used to be here, there was a pile of books gathered up on that spot .

He reached out to the book on top of that pile, all the while sensing this strange feeling . The book itself was a familiar one .

⸢The Wizard of Oz, ver . 999⸥

Even he had heard of this book's name from somewhere . However, he had never read it before . Yi Hyeon-Seong flipped the cover open and began reading the first sentence .

⸢The tin soldier was scared of having a heart . ⸥

A tin soldier, was it? It must've been the Wizard of Oz's protagonist . He continued to flip through the pages .

⸢The first comrade the tin soldier met was a really scary man . The tin soldier called him 'Captain' . ⸥

The moment he read that line, his head pulsed in pain . Captain?

⸢The tin soldier then became comrades with a beautiful angel . When that angel became angry, she'd often morph into a devil . ⸥

For some reason, his heart ached when he read those lines .

⸢The tin soldier became comrades with a warrior wearing thick armour . The warrior used his own sword to test out the tin soldier's strength now and then . ⸥

Why, why did it feel like this description would come to life right before his eyes at any second?

⸢The tin soldier became comrades with a dragon spitting out fearsome flames . The dragon sometimes acted like a nuisance, too . ⸥

But, I've never met an existence like that before?

⸢And then, a demon king coming from another world stole away what was most precious to them . ⸥

Every time he read a sentence, all sorts of chaotic scenes and screams flitted in and out of his vision . He was unfamiliar with those spectacles . Even then, Yi Hyeon-Seong's entire body s.h.i.+vered .

He couldn't understand it . He didn't get what this story was about .

He simply didn't get what the author was trying to convey .

Worse still, he couldn't understand why tears were welling up in his eyes .

⸢And at the end of this story, the tin soldier realised what the aching in his heart was . ⸥

⸢That aching eventually became his heart . ⸥

As soon as he read that line, Yi Hyeon-Seong recalled it .

I too once had comrades like them .

⸢"I'd love to hear your story, Hyeon-Seong-ssi, when all these tragedies come to an end and our stories are no longer treated as scenarios . "⸥

The first comrade was a polite and warm person . Everyone followed his lead .

⸢"Until then, everyone being safe is the utmost priority . "⸥

The second comrade was a kind person . Everyone believed her words to be correct .

⸢"No, hang on . It's more important that everyone survives, even at the cost of one person . Of course, that 'one person' must be Kim Dok-Ja . That fool knows how to come back from being dead, anyway . "⸥

The third comrade was a wise person . Everyone thought that the strategies she cooked up will succeed .

⸢"No one will die . Leave this place to me and go . "⸥

The fourth comrade was a powerful person . Everyone could entrust their backs to him .

⸢"You know, Mister Hyeon-Seong . If I ever forget about you, then . . . "⸥

And, the fifth comrade was . . .

⸢"… . Then, please kill me . "⸥

His memories were coming back to him . Slowly, so very slowly, his heart began beating . So slowly, yet with a distinctive feeling, each beat did its very best to emphasize that they were hurting this way, that this was where such ache existed .

How could he have ever forgotten about them?

Yi Hyeon-Seong clenched his fists, his body s.h.i.+vering away . He shouldn't be in this place .

He looked up at the skies outside the windows . The cracks of the skies had covered the entirety of the heavens by now . It became rather clear where his companions had gone off to .

They went away to protect this world he was stuck in . All the while facing off against the calamities that measly North Korea couldn't even compare to .

⸢Yi Hyeon-Seong thought to himself . 'Do I possess such powers?'⸥

[Constellation, 'Master of Steel', is looking at you . ]

His Sponsor was now looking at him .

Tsu-chut, tsu-chuchuchut!!

However, something felt different from before . It must've been his Sponsor, yet there was a slight, vague difference in the gaze he sensed .

[Constellation, 'Master of Steel' asks if you're hurting . ]

Yi Hyeon-Seong nodded his head .

⸢This emotion, this heart, I wish to protect it . ⸥

He was scared . Scared of forgetting this moment again, scared of his heart stop beating again . Scared of everything freezing up within the cold silvery light .

It was then, his Sponsor spoke to him . [[You can protect it . ]]

His voice resembled forged steel, tempered for tens of thousands of years .

[[However, you may end up in agony for all eternity as the consequences of failing to protect it . ]]

"Even then, it's fine . It's better than not even having a chance to protect them . "

He was only familiar with the things he had lost already . The important part was about not losing them again .

[[Your name is the Emperor of Steelsword . ]]

He saw the barbed wire fences in the distance crumble away . The world of manuals he had been protecting was disappearing .

Yi Hyeon-Seong stepped forward, towards his own story .

*

"Dok-Jssi . "

We were currently protecting the crumbling .

With the decline of the Fables of the Master of Steel, and the ⸢the Wizard of Oz⸥, 's anti-air defence system was crumbling down .

I could see hundreds of battles.h.i.+ps surrounding Oz . We shared our strength and protected the planet with a hole in it from that armada .

Even then, we were reaching our limit .

The other side relied mainly on the long-range attacks from their s.h.i.+ps . The only methods we had of defending against that effectively were Yi Ji-Hye's [Turtle Dragon], and s.h.i.+n Yu-Seung's [Chimera Dragon] .

The problem here was that neither Yi Ji-Hye's vessel and s.h.i.+n Yu-Seung's dragon had fully recovered from the damages incurred during the 'Great War of Saints and Demons' .

We originally came here to address that issue, but this . . .

"The anti-air defence will be rendered powerless soon!"

We got ready for the final showdown .

Jeong Hui-Won asked . "Still can't contact any other Constellations?"

"Something bad must've happened . "

It was likely that these guys attacking us were involved in that .

Han Su-Yeong grumbled loudly . "You really aren't going to regret this? Should we really be doing this?"

I nodded my head . "Yi Hyeon-Seong always fought for us in the frontlines . It's our turn to repay that debt . "

My companions agreed with me .

Yu Jung-Hyeok was currently on top of the tallest building on the planet, while Jeong Hui-Won was emitting powerful Status that didn't lose out to anyone, her resolve firm, unwavering .

⸢We'll believe in Yi Hyeon-Seong . ⸥

I wasn't sure exactly how much time we could buy here . Just that, I could only pray it was enough for Yi Hyeon-Seong .

"Incoming!"

Kboooooom!!

Hundreds of battles.h.i.+ps in the distance spat out flames simultaneously . Magical sh.e.l.ls, their numbers more than enough to utterly decimate a planet in its entirety, rained down .

We unleashed all of our Statuses . We needed to withstand this wave of attack no matter what .

After gathering all of our magical . . .

Right next moment .

A vast silvery light suddenly enveloped the whole world .

The enormous protective barrier made out of Fable metal spread out among the heavens . Through the semi-transparent barrier, I saw the sh.e.l.ls of the battles.h.i.+ps powerlessly explode on the outside .

"Being left alone in a place like that was not a happy experience, you know . "

This was not the Fable of ⸢the Wizard of Oz⸥ . No, it was a new type of Fable, with a somewhat different origin .

⸢In that world, he was referred to as the Emperor of Steelsword . ⸥

Kwkwakwakwa!!

Chills ran down my spine .

Steam covered the entire planet . Metals spreading out like a giant tree's branches began blanketing the surface of the planet itself .

This was the hardest material found in , the only Fable metal capable of dealing with the Myth-grade Constellation's frightening weapons .

[A large number of Constellations are astonished by the scale of this Fable!]

And here it was, the Stigma powerful enough to completely envelop a planet with that metal . That was the anti-air defence system that the planet proudly boasted, the [Last Steel] .

"Captain Yi Hyeon-Seong from the Giant Monsters Special Command, reporting . "

The man I was familiar with, blessed a height taller than Yu Jung-Hyeok's, and boasting the st.u.r.diest body .

"I have been discharged from the active service today . "

Stars of the skies could be seen staggering back now .

[Constellations from Nebula are astonished by the revival of the 'Master of Steel'!]

And now, it was the time for the counterattack .

Fin .