Chapter 160: The Target

With just over a month left until the WSPI evaluation,

I immersed myself in the construction of the AGE-01 in a secret laboratory located in the basement of Dojin Industries.

“CEO, the first round of processing for the module scenario data is complete, and the total number of patterns has been compressed to 2,351.”

Chilbong’s voice came through the speaker.

“Good work. Once the final verification is done, we’ll move it to the computation module right away.”

“Understood. I’ll report back as soon as Team Leader Han Yu-ju finishes the stabilization work.”

After hanging up the phone and letting out a brief sigh,

I looked over the bullet blueprint on the workbench.

The placement of the MEMS steering fins and the coating of the bullet’s forward section were critical.

A faint sweat formed on the fingertips handling each component one by one.

Theory and practice are different, after all.

Even after hundreds of simulations showed perfect results,

and since this was something I had reviewed multiple times during my time at Ahsung, I was confident the direction was correct.

However, in the actual production process, unexpected variables always seemed to arise.

To prepare for any eventuality, I called in Team Leader Park Sang-bae.

“CEO, you called?”

Park Sang-bae opened the door and entered.

He seemed quite accustomed to coming here frequently.

“We need to apply a composite coating to the bullet. Please prepare for that.”

“Understood.”

Team Leader Park Sang-bae immediately headed to the coating equipment,

and soon notified me that the preparations were complete.

“CEO, given the material’s properties, ensuring uniform coating seems challenging.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle that issue.”

I had extensive experience with coatings,

and with Midas’s hands available, I was confident nothing would go wrong.

After securing the bullet with the MEMS fins in the coater,

I directly set the pressure and time for the spray nozzle.

Park Sang-bae advised me with a tense expression,

“CEO, if the pressure is too high, there’s a high chance the material won’t be applied uniformly.”

“But if the pressure is too low, the coating’s adhesion might suffer.”

“That’s true, but… the pressure you’ve set is too high.”

As Park Sang-bae expressed concern while looking at the pressure value displayed on the screen,

I pressed the ‘Start’ button on the coating equipment without hesitation.

After delicate work, the bullet’s forward section was perfectly coated, and Park Sang-bae couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement.

“How… is it possible to achieve such uniformity at such high pressure?”

Leaving him surprised, I moved on to the next task immediately.

This time, it was the modification of the AGE-01’s main body.

Replacing the heavy tungsten alloy stock with carbon fiber,

and to secure space for the computation module insertion at the bottom of the barrel, precise cutting and machining were required.

As expected, during the process of removing the tungsten alloy parts and replacing them with carbon fiber components, the center of gravity shifted forward.

“Uh-oh, CEO, if you insert the vibration-absorbing material like that… Oh, wait, it works?”

It might have looked strange to forcefully push in the high-density polymer-based vibration-absorbing material to balance the rifle internally,

but I was confident Midas’s abilities would correct the imbalance.

The more Midas’s corrections are applied, the better the performance becomes, after all.

This was the know-how I had gained over the past 12 years of utilizing Midas’s abilities countless times.

After completing the modification work on the AGE-01’s main body, the laboratory was filled with the smell of metal and cutting fluid.

I immediately moved on to the next task.

This time, it was the construction of the computation module, which could be considered the core of the WSPI evaluation.

A small PCB board, about a third the size of a palm, was secured on a black aluminum frame.

While its appearance was simple, it was planned to incorporate thousands of microscopic computation pathways, a thermoelectric dispersion system, and a micro signal amplifier.

“Let’s get started.”

I picked up precision tweezers and secured the first DSP chip in the slot.

Then, I proceeded to mount the high-speed cache memory and MEM processor in sequence.

If it were a standard design, the work would be too inefficient and precise to be done manually without automated equipment… but,

I’m counting on you, Midas.

As I brought the tweezers holding the component over the PCB board,

the component settled into place with precision, as if it had a magnet.

At such precision, impossible for a normal human hand, Park Sang-bae’s eyes widened as if they might pop out.

“C-CEO, what just happened? Is this kind of manual work really possible?”

“What are you asking after seeing it with your own eyes?”

From the outside, it only looked like precise hand movements,

so I continued working without paying it any mind.

As I placed the first DSP (Digital Signal Processor) chip on the module baseboard,

the real-time resistance value jumped on the oscilloscope screen.

Putting down the tweezers, I immediately wrapped an anti-static wrist strap around my wrist.

I need to block interference caused by thermoelectric coupling.

Next were the L1 cache module and the eFPGA block responsible for computation control.

If it were a general-purpose chip, attaching a third-party development module would suffice, but this project wasn’t that simple.

I called Han Yu-ju.

“Among the algorithms included in the Luna beta version, is there a lightweight prediction scenario that runs below 1.2GHz clock cycles?”

-Yes. It was made for testing, but it should run within 8MB.

“Change the IO routing to dynamic memory. The computation results will be output through the SPI interface instead of the cache.”

-SPI? Switching to serial input/output will slow down the computation response time.

“It’s fine. I’m not trying to integrate it with Luna. It just needs to react according to the predefined scenario.”

After hanging up the phone, I adjusted the jig (alignment guide) on the PCB

and thinly spread TMI (Thermal Interface Material) over the eFPGA module.

Placing the pre-prepared thermal spreader on top,

Park Sang-bae exclaimed in admiration once again.

“Wow… you’re even mounting the BGA on the power section manually. Without X-ray reflow, there could be solder cracks…”

I was well aware of such risks.

However, since I was doing it myself, the likelihood of that happening was very low.

Instead of a DC-to-DC converter on the board’s backside power supply, I applied an ultra-compact GaN-based PMIC (Power Management IC) to reduce heat generation and maximize power efficiency.

Almost done now.

Since automated equipment wasn’t yet in place,

most processes had to be carried out with makeshift jigs and manual work.

Thanks to that, this task alone took a full two weeks,

but the only remaining step was to burn the boot firmware into the EEPROM.

Connecting the worked module to the fixed debugging port,

the flash writer began to operate, and a red LED lit up on the black board.

“It’s done, a success!”

The completed module was smaller than the palm of my hand,

but it contained approximately 2,000 tactical scenarios and over 5,000 lines of computation algorithms,

along with a low-power micro-computation architecture.

Wrapping it with heat-dissipating tape for the final finish, I covered the perimeter with a shield cover.

After completing the plating process for EMI shielding, all work was finally complete.

“Now, all that’s left is to put this guy in its place.”

The AGE-01’s main body had already been modified with a carbon fiber base,

and the slot at the bottom of the barrel for the computation module insertion was empty.

I slowly pushed the module in along the securing guide.

Click.

A faint clicking sound reached my fingertips.

The board was secured, and the contact points meshed perfectly.

I immediately proceeded with the power test.

“Computation module activated. Starting simulation from Scenario 001.”

Module response rate: Normal

Temperature: 31.5°C

Computation delay: Within 0.03 seconds

This was the diagnostic log sent by Han Yu-ju.

-CEO, the top three priority scenarios among those currently loaded are as follows:

Close-range moving target response (within 300m, speed 70 km/h)

2,000m precision shooting

Bullet velocity correction in cryogenic environments (-15°C to -30°C)

“Good. We’ll adjust the rest during live-fire testing.”

I picked up the AGE-01 prototype I had assembled.

The rifle fit perfectly in my hands, and a faint vibration was felt from the lower section where the computation module was installed.

It was a weak electronic signal indicating operational status.

“Ready?”

“Yes, the protocol setting for the evaluation shooting range is complete.”

“I’ll be testing it myself, so make sure everyone stays clear.”

After giving the instructions, I took the AGE-01 and headed to the underground shooting range.

Instead of the usual simple targets, three simulation-based mobile models were lined up side by side.

Each had an independent control system simulating different speeds, orbits, and temperature environments.

Inserting the magazine, I placed my finger on the trigger.

…

On the day of the WSPI evaluation,

the air at the Ministry of Defense’s direct management test site was heavy and cold.

Today’s evaluation was presided over by Major General Kim Dae-hoon, who had moved from the Defense Facilities Management Headquarters to the Project Support Headquarters.

“Who’s attending from Ahsung Defense?”

“Recently appointed CEO Yoon Seok-hwan and Executive Director Kwon Do-hyun from the Development Division are attending.”

I nodded at Park Cheol-jin’s words.

If it’s Yoon Seok-hwan, he must be one of Cheon Jun-seok’s men.

Cheon Jun-young, who had ruined the mobile division and was pushed out of the succession,

seemed to have shifted the power to his younger brother, Cheon Jun-seok.

As I observed the attendees,

Major General Kim Dae-hoon’s deep voice echoed.

[Today’s WSPI evaluation will proceed in five stages.]

• Stage 1: Standard precision shooting

• Stage 2: Complex positional shooting

• Stage 3: System stability under harsh environmental conditions

• Stage 4: Undisclosed

• Stage 5: Undisclosed

As Major General Kim Dae-hoon finished his explanation, murmurs arose around me.

“The first three stages were expected, but why aren’t Stages 4 and 5 being disclosed?”

“I wonder what they’re planning to do.”

I was curious too.

But there was no point in worrying about something I couldn’t know,

so I decided to focus solely on the upcoming Stage 1 evaluation.

“The shooting will be done directly by officers from the Ministry of Defense, right?”

“Yes, two master shooters from the Project Support Headquarters will test our rifle and Ahsung Defense’s rifle.”

With master shooters, there was no need to worry about Stages 1 and 2.

Even with the current main rifle, the A2, a master shooter wouldn’t miss the target with an improved weapon.

But then,

Executive Vice President Hong Chung-ki rushed over to me with an urgent expression.

“CEO, there seems to be a problem.”

“Suddenly… what’s the issue?”

“It seems Ahsung Defense has already gotten to the officer assigned as our shooter.”

“What? Then we should protest to the executive committee right now!”

Seong-hwan, immediately understanding Hong Chung-ki’s words, looked ready to storm off to Major General Kim Dae-hoon.

“Do you have evidence?”

At the mention of evidence, Executive Vice President Hong Chung-ki shook his head.

“We haven’t secured that yet.”

“Without evidence, it’ll be hard to convince Major General Kim Dae-hoon.”

“So, you’re saying we should just proceed with the evaluation as is?”

Everyone looked at me with concerned expressions.

If the shooter doesn’t perform properly during the next-generation rifle evaluation,

the chances of passing that evaluation would be almost zero.

However, I made the final decision to proceed with the evaluation without any special measures.

I was curious to see if the rifle I made could hit a target I didn’t intend to hit.

I wondered what the result would be.