The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 152
152fury.
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Inside the Hidden Stage, the Hope Guild members were standing at the end of the huge cavity..
It looked like they were huddled together like cornered cats, unable to get out..
The reason is because there was a black dragon crouching about 100 meters away..
An entity that freezes players with just the atmosphere without any movement.…….
"her… … Oh, dragon... … Wouldn't it be a big deal if it woke up??”
One of the guild members voiced concern. It wasn't that I didn't know that Lee Hyun-wook had attacked the black dragon earlier, but suddenly encountering the dragon in such a narrow place was a completely different situation. If that guy breathes dragon breath... … There is absolutely no room to escape.?
however.......
“……At first glance, it looks like it's already dead.?”
Park Jun-mo whispered next to me. As he said, the dragon did not show any movement..
And Lee Hyun-wook’s eyes—the Insight Lens wasn’t detecting anything..
Also, crucially, the guy had a sword stuck in his back, so he looked like he was definitely dead..
‘If a sword like that isn't a popular accessory among dragons, it's already dead..’
As he got a little closer, Lee Hyun-wook was able to check the sword's information using the Insight Lens..
"Uh, what is it?……."
[Item information]
- Name: Balmung (Legendary))
- effect
1) Bridle of Pain: A sword that contains numerous vengeful spirits, and its mere existence imposes a ‘curse’ on the area..
* If you can endure this curse and suppress the vengeful spirits, the sword's true abilities will be unlocked..
3) Dragon Slayer: With the power to slay dragons, it ignores ‘some’ of the dragon’s power..
Balmung, the protagonist of the Germanic epic poem, was known as Siegfried's favorite sword. And it is identified with the genus 'Gram' and the genus 'Nothung'..
'……And he is the most famous dragon slayer, killing the evil dragon Fafnir in Norse mythology..’
In that case, it was not unreasonable to guess that the black dragon was the famous ‘Fafnir’.,
In Lee Hyun-wook's memory, Fafnir appears in Melbourne, Australia four years later and wreaks havoc on Australia..
‘At that time, Edward Woods mobilized Balmung and attacked him..’
There was not just one entrance to the ‘Hidden Stage’ as there was in the past..
Multiple dungeons with similar themes shared one hidden stage..
In other words, it seemed like Edward Woods in his previous life had found the entrance to this place from another dragon labyrinth..
In that respect, that nameless dragon was a decoration and additional reward for Balmung..
‘By the way, I don't know when he died, but he looks so clean, as if he was just sleeping.?’
In the first place, there was no way that the corpse of a being the size of a dragon could easily decompose..
In other words, it was preserved in very good condition, so its value as a material was considerable..
‘And if this happens... … It's like catching two dragons.?’
Now, gray dwarves and blacksmiths were researching how to use Aji Dahaka..
Since it is an adult dragon, it was expected that hundreds of 'dragon equipment' could be produced..
Regarding this, one expert compared Lee Hyun-wook to ‘capturing an entire aircraft carrier.’,
This meant that the value that could be extracted from a single adult dragon was astronomical..
At that time, a guild member who was closest to the black dragon's corpse clutched his chest..
“—Ugh!”
He took a step back, complaining in pain, and quickly ran towards the priest..
Everyone stopped at the urgent movement, as if a person on fire was running toward the water..
"Hey, what is this! A curse suddenly appeared! Release this for me!”
Everyone couldn't help but look puzzled at those words..
“what?”
I was cursed out of nowhere... … Wasn’t there any foreshadowing like this??
However, the moment Lee Hyun-wook took one step forward, he was also cursed..
- caution! Balmung's Curse has fallen into 'Bridle of Pain (Level 1)'.
* Temporarily reduces all healing effects. (-10%)
* Bleeding occurs temporarily anywhere in the body.
* Mental acuity temporarily decreases, causing hallucinations and auditory hallucinations..
In addition, many players who were in the same line began to complain of pain..
"Hyunwook Lee, do you see that sword? There's a curse coming from there.”
It was sad that he said that. As a paladin, she sensed the black energy emanating from the sword..
"stop—”
Lee Hyun-wook raised his hand and said, and the guild members hesitated and took a step back..
"Well, what is it??”
As there was a dragon in front of me, my fear of the unknown phenomenon could not help but grow stronger..
Lee Hyun-wook looked down at the translucent wave encroaching on his entire body, then looked back at Seo Eun-ha..
"Captain Seo, can you apply a healing effect to me? I'll draw that sword.”
Seo Eun-ha did not hide her worried expression at Lee Hyun-wook’s words..
“……Even at such a great distance, with this level of curse, it is impossible to use that sword directly..”
But enduring that curse would have been Balmung's 'over handicap'..
"Once I take ownership of that sword, I can handle it without having to wield it myself..”
Since Balmung is also metal, Lee Hyun-wook was able to 'control' the sword while staying away from the cursed realm..
According to Balmung's item information, new skills will be unlocked if you overcome the curse..
But Lee Hyun-wook can't overcome that curse, so he won't be able to get that new skill..
‘Still, with this kind of wide-area curse effect, it can be used as a kind of biochemical weapon..’
Having such a tricky and strange over-handicap was actually a good thing for Lee Hyun-wook..
‘From now on, it will be quite advantageous if you plant it in the middle of the enemy's lines and enter the battle.…….'
With that in mind, Lee Hyun-wook stepped on the tail of the black dragon corpse and climbed onto its back........
"Pfft!"
- caution! I fell into Balmung's Curse 'Bridle of Pain (Level 2)'.
* Temporarily reduces all healing effects. (-30%)
* Bleeding occurs temporarily anywhere in the body.
* Mental acuity temporarily decreases, causing hallucinations and auditory hallucinations..
* Temporarily reduces body strength. (-30%)
The closer you get to it, the stronger the curse becomes..
‘In this case, if you touch it directly or get stabbed... … It must be amazing?’
Lee Hyun-wook wrapped his entire body in steel boots and carefully stretched out his hand..
And the moment you finally grab Balmung's sack—
- caution! I fell into Balmung's Curse 'Bridle of Pain (Level 3)'.
* Temporarily reduces all healing effects. (-40%)
* ‘Heavy’ bleeding occurs temporarily in various parts of the body.
* Temporarily, mental power decreases significantly, causing hallucinations and auditory hallucinations..
* Temporarily a ‘significant’ decrease in body strength. (-50%)
* ‘All abilities are reduced due to ‘evil spirit binding’. (-20%)
Go—oh—oh—oh——
As if possessed by a ghost, black ghosts rose from the sword and surrounded Lee Hyun-wook..
Uhhhh——Giggles——Kyakyakya——
As if they were smelling Lee Hyun-wook, they came closer and wrapped themselves around his entire body..
Every time that happens, the hardened skin oxidizes with a clicking sound, and the joints of the bones become sore..
I felt stuffy and oppressed, as if my whole body was wrapped around by a huge anaconda..
‘Pfft… … It is said to be a cursed sword that led to the death of its owner several times in epics.…….'
It seemed like the setting was that all kinds of vengeful spirits were inhabiting it, resulting in such a deep curse..
A curse so strong that it can even eat its owner... … I had to overcome this, but I was able to use Balmung's power..
- (!) caution! You are powerless to bear this curse!
But Lee Hyun-wook seemed to have no conditions to overcome it, and he had no intention of overcoming it anyway..
‘You just have to take it anyway.!’
Blood was flowing from his eyes and nose, and he was even bleeding internally, bursting out of his mouth..
"Damn it, Lee Hyun-wook! The curse is too strong! Stop it now!”
Not only Seo Eun-ha, but also the priests of the Hope Guild rushed in and continued to heal..
Lee Hyun-wook's body quickly collapsed, but he was barely able to hold on with their help..
"Ugh——"
He gritted his teeth, concentrated the force that was gradually escaping into his left hand, and pulled it out..
Suddenly—!
Soon, the sword body that was stuck in the dragon's skin was pulled out. Then, a deeper curse flowed out and climbed up Lee Hyun-wook's arm like a snake, then turned into a green hand and grabbed the nape of his neck..
Wow!
"no! Let it go quickly, then die—!”
Seo Eun-ha approached and shouted. She could sense that Lee Hyun-wook's body was breaking down..
Following a whopping 3-level curse, multiple evil spirits attached themselves and inflicted continuous damage..
'—For now, I can hold on.!’
At that time, an AD-2 flew behind Lee Hyun-wook..
“Pfft—!”
He lifted Balmung with difficulty and threw him into the lower part of the AD-2—into subspace..
yes——
At that moment, Balmung's curse that was weighing down the area disappeared as if evaporating..
Cheeeeee…….
Black smoke rose from Lee Hyun-wook's left hand, which was holding Balmung..
"……Lee Hyun-wook, it’s okay.?”
Seo Eun-ha came closer and squeezed out the mana to apply strength..
"yes… … Thanks to you all, I got through it well..”
Every inch of his body still ached, but Lee Hyun-wook was able to endure this much..
He turned his head and spoke calmly to the guild members who were looking up at him..
"Now that the threat has been eliminated, let's begin the search in earnest..”
The Hope Guild members looked blank for a moment, but soon got used to it and started working..
This sudden crisis and sudden solution... … This was not the first time for Hope Guild members..
After a while, I found a small box on one side of the wide pupil, and there was something inside it..
[Item information]
- Name: Black Dragon's Sari (Legendary))
- Effect: Grants the ‘Black Dragon’s Power’ to the item..
'This is an orb that can contain acid properties and even reaches legendary level.…….'
Without even thinking about it, I thought it would be appropriate to give this to the Balmung I just got..
‘Wait a minute, but can blacksmiths handle Balmung??’
Just being nearby was a curse, so the work wouldn't go smoothly..
‘That will take care of itself, okay?…….'
However, I believed that those who worked tirelessly to turn the impossible into the possible would do well..
"Boss, but no matter how you look at that thing, it must be thousands of tons. How are we going to carry that thing??”
Jeongjun Lee asked, pointing to the black dragon. Hyunwook Lee was also thinking about that..
To be honest, I doubted whether it would be possible to drag that massive being of a whopping 67 meters outside..
The first method that came to mind was, of course, an 'emergency return' to Laputa using Friedwen..
However, because this is a ‘dungeon’, a different dimension from the real world, spatial movement skills are limited..
“……First of all, I think we'll have to drag it outside..”
Lee Hyun-wook used all the available metal to weave wire to tie the body of the black dragon, and then made a large iron plate large enough to hold the entire dragon and attached several sturdy wheels to it. If this large ‘pull car’ could hold up, the Living Armorers would be able to drag it out somehow..
While Lee Hyun-wook was doing the work, the Hope Guild members worked on covering the stairs with iron plates..
"after… … The overall height of the labyrinth is high and it is wide, so I think it will be enough to pass through..”
After a while, Living Armor 45G grabbed the wire rope and pulled the 'pull truck'.…….
coo coo coo coo coo coo coo——
67A very large steel tug carrying a m-sized dragon began to slowly move forward..
"Oh, it's okay, it's okay!”
"Wow, this works.?”
Next, when Lee Hyun-wook gave strength to the pull car itself by giving it metal control, it ran better than expected..
‘This is the end. There's nothing more to gain from this..’
In this way, the labyrinth strategy was completely completed..
And from now on…….
'……It's time to respond to terrorism..’
***
At that time, two men were sitting in the VIP lounge of a hotel in Suwon..
"Ha, what should we do if our CEO Lee is still going back and forth! huh?”
The man in the suit who said that was Hwang Yeon-soo, head of the Joint Operations Department at the Guild Support and Cooperation Office, and the middle-aged man wearing glasses he was facing was Taek-su Lee, the master of the largest guild in the southern region of Gyeonggi-do..
And the Baekho Guild was a fairly large force that rose to the 3rd place in the ranking of domestic guilds when the Taesan Guild collapsed..
“haha… … Director Hwang, is it because I'm getting older and less energetic? I'm having trouble worrying for a long time.?”
"No, Director Woo, are you still upset after seeing that person blow up the Taesan guild? If our director wins the presidential election, there will be no such atrocity in the future as a guild is destroyed like that..”
At those words, Taeksu Lee licked his dry lips and avoided Hwang Yeonsu's gaze..
"Well, it's not that we should go according to our wishes, but we just say hello to our commissioner often, and he's starting to feel a bit disappointed. Are you really close with Director Woo??"
In response to that question, Taeksu Lee waved his hand..
“A—A— Of course I’m not saying that I like Director Woo! you know what i mean?”
"ah… … Our CEO Lee, are you still scared of Director Woo? So that's it.?”
In response to that question, Lee Taek-su cleared his throat and said loudly..
The consensus in the player world was that this man, Hwang Yeon-soo, would become the next key figure in power. He is trying to overthrow Oh Tae-moon, the head of the Guild Support Office, who is currently the strongest presidential candidate, and take Woo Seong-moon's place..
But how many political players have been aiming for that position so far? In the end... … Woo Seong-moon, the first director, had been sitting there for over a dozen years. Woo Seong-moon was such a strong image..
"Well, honestly, hasn't Director Woo been saying that the old tiger's teeth are slowly shaking a few years ago? But didn't you pick up a baby tiger named Lee Hyun-wook from somewhere and start doing the sword dance again? I trust Deputy Director Hwang, but honestly… … How many people do I have in my family? It's a lie to say I'm not worried......."
Then Hwang Yeon-soo giggled and snapped his fingers..
"Great! I think I can instill that confidence today.?”
"oh… … why? Something big is going to happen?”
"Well, CEO, let's turn on the TV for a moment. It has a remote control..”
Then Taeksu Lee picked up the remote control that was on top of the newspaper and turned on the TV news..
- ……Soon, Lee Hyun-wook, who has finished conquering the labyrinth, will appear in front of the camera..
"Ah, there. There will be news soon.”
At those words, Lee Taek-soo's eyes turned into surprised rabbit eyes..
"Director Hwang... … I made this to send to Lee Hyun-wook.?”
"huh? What does that mean? I don't know.”
"Oh, that's right! Anyway, I said nonsense.?”
In response to Hwang Yeon-su's joke, Lee Taek-su tapped his mouth and waved his hand..
"Representative Lee, you have no idea how things will turn out in the world..”
He said that and sank into the sofa..
"And no matter how genius you are, if you don't know what's going on in the world, you're just a kid..”
The biggest headache for seizing power in this country was no longer Woo Seong-moon..
That pale-faced young player was controlling this country, and possibly the world..
He was going to finish that bastard today and take everything he had..
***
Stillane, he finally came out of the labyrinth..
Click—click—click—click—
"Hyunwook Lee, did you succeed in conquering the labyrinth??”
"Hey, just one thing please.!”
A foreign reporter wearing a fedora escaped from the huge number of reporters chasing Lee Hyun-wook..
“Ha—what makes pressing the shutter harder than pressing the trigger? Jenny, are the cleaners ready??”
He mumbled in a low voice, and a voice came through the earphones in his ears..
- You are now 300 meters away. Arrives in about 3 minutes.
The truck carrying the 'City Cleaner', the secret weapon to counter Lee Hyun-wook, was waiting in another area and returning here. It was a natural move to avoid unexpected surveillance..
"Okay, the first thing is to tie up the trash so it doesn't fly away..”
As he said that, he pressed the shutter towards Lee Hyun-wook, who was visible from a distance..
"Now, link, start.”
At that moment, a female reporter threw away her camera and took out a wand from her pocket..
The moment she swung the wand at Lee Hyun-wook, her entire left hand was blown away..
Ta— ang——!
The sniper who was hiding somewhere and guarding Lee Hyun-wook reacted quickly..
But it wasn't just her. A couple more reporters moved on, and soon…….
Zeng——!
Link magic shot from somewhere exploded above Lee Hyun-wook's head, and cold air poured down..
Blah blah blah——!
In an instant, the entire surface of Paldalsan Mountain was frozen like an ice age. The target was definitely Lee Hyun-wook. His figure was covered by a wall of ice and disappeared, but there was no way he could have died from that alone. It was just a waste of time.
"Now is the time—hit the mana force field.!”
At that cry, his camouflaged subordinates stepped forward and took out wands..
Zeng—Zeng—Zeng—Zeng——!
The purple rays of light they shot stretched toward the sky and tangled with each other..
- A ‘multidimensional net’ is formed in the area. (Time remaining : 00:09:59)
A multidimensional net, within which the transformation of space—that is, space movement magic—is limited..
Because Lee Hyun-wook was so new to the world, he blocked his escape..
"—done! Now he can't escape!”
He smiled triumphantly and threw away the camera..
"Cleaners clean up the country's biggest mold bug!”
He shouted excitedly and took out two pistols from his pocket..
‘I puncture his neck.’
however…….
"......Cleaners, get started quickly!”
"Janitors, respond!”
- .......
"Hey, hey! Jenny, why aren’t you saying anything?!”
They were members of the city vacuum cleaner team who should have stepped in by now........
at that time—
yes——
A shadow fell over his head..
He slowly raised his head…….
What he was desperately looking for was there..
It was a truck, a truck containing a city vacuum cleaner.
"huh?"
It was floating above his head like an airship..
The strange thing was that the driver's seat was crumpled like aluminum foil..
“……Are you looking for this??”
Then I heard someone's voice..
That was Stillane's voice. He was sitting on a truck floating in the air..
Twisted——!
When he moved his left hand slightly, the area around the driver's seat became even more dented..
"hmm… … It looks like a package was sent to me. I guess I can have it.?”
That moment—
Kwa—ang——! Qua—ang——!
"—Pfft!”
Two SUVs, two completely crumpled SUVs, fell on either side of him..
They were the cars escorting that truck containing the city vacuum cleaner..
And it was also the car that the assassination team boarded to finish off the incapacitated Lee Hyun-wook..
Lee Hyun-wook slowly descended toward the ground and stood in front of a man wearing a fedora..
"I need to do some house cleaning too.……."
He whispered softly and moved his left hand, and the two SUVs melted..
It crawled across the floor and stuck to the leg of the man in the fedora..
“……I need you to tell me where it's dirty..”
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