The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 26
26. Cheongdam-dong, an unexpected event - 1
==========================
“······how was that possible?”
After Lee Hyun-wook’s report was over, General Choi Jeong-cheol asked quietly..
“Well, your profile says you can control 300g, but from what you just reported, it sounds like you moved several times that, so I'm not mistaken.?”
He speaks softly with a warm smile on his face..
But Lee Hyun-wook knew very well that he was not an easy person..
A few years later, he will be called one of the guardians of the Republic of Korea..
‘To put it bluntly, he is a person who the Necromancer was most wary of and attempted to assassinate him early on..’
6A year later, Choi Jeong-cheol blocks the first invasion of the Necromancer Legion from the north..
1By sweeping away the 10,000 undead troops and the immortal legions that persistently survive without dying, they are reduced to a pile of ashes that cannot be regenerated by equally burning them with persistent flames..
‘If Inferno is a rocket cannon that can fire indefinitely, Choi Jeong-cheol is a one-shot tactical nuclear bomb..’
This was possible because, as an 'Archmage', the best trait among wizards, they excluded all other magic and focused solely on range and destructive power..
Although it was so deformed, it was a solid military power..
But in the end, the fire of Seoul and the fire of Busan,
Both flames went out and the Korean Peninsula was immersed in darkness..
······After thinking briefly, Lee Hyun-wook nodded and answered Choi Jeong-cheol's question..
“Not long ago, a message came to mind that I had beaten an achievement, and my abilities improved. As the Brigadier General said, instead of 300g, I was able to control 15kg and gained some skills..”
15kg, the ability increase was opened at a reasonable level..
“Well, it's an achievement.······.”
In this game, the 'achievement system' was as uncommon as the 'quest'.
“To be exact, I got an achievement called when I caught the 3rd elite monster, but I think it's probably an achievement that can be obtained due to a trait that cannot increase ability..”
We added plausible details that were prepared in advance..
Choi Jeong-cheol seemed a little worried, but soon his eyes of suspicion disappeared..
It was a time when there was still no room for growth even in ‘F grade’..
No matter how much I thought about it, it was an achievement, there was no other way to explain it..
“······Yes, such an achievement is quite possible..”
Choi Jeong-cheol looked back at Kim Kang-seok..
And smiled meaningfully.
“Battalion Commander, then this guy can no longer be considered an F grade.?”
“Brigadier General, in my opinion, your qualifications as a soldier have already gone far beyond their limits..”
“Hahaha, yes, I admit it. The battalion commander was a friend who had reason to praise him..”
According to the formula that it cannot grow, it would be grade F, but its actual combat power is grade C or higher..
With this, Kim Kang-seok thought that even the biggest obstacle to his appointment as an officer had been removed..
“Corporal Hyunwook Lee, again, you did a great job. It wasn't just that he carried out the operation well as an AMT member, but that he also saved countless lives... Yes, should I say that he saved an aspect of society?······.”
Choi Jeong-cheol stretched out his short arm and tapped Lee Hyun-wook on the shoulder..
“If so, there should be a reward.?”
Of course, it was natural..
“Is there an item you want? Well, tell me about magic armor or something..”
Unfortunately, I didn't know what was in the brigade's armory..
‘There is no need for armor because once the metal absorption is finished, something similar will be created..’
That's why I couldn't point out something and talk about it.······.
‘Weapons that will soon be needed... Okay, I'll have to ask for those..’
Lee Hyun-wook nodded..
“Yes, thank you very much. There are a few items you need....”
“Okay, feel free to say it. I'll give you instructions.”
“I want to have a weapon filled with divine power. Two one-handed swords would be nice..”
Divine power, literally a sacred power..
It was the foundational power of a priest or paladin and the opposite of the power of darkness..
In other words, it is very effective when dealing with undead or ghost types..
‘Divine power must be steadily increased for the future..’
This time it was because of a certain name that came to mind..
Meanwhile, Choi Jeong-cheol looked puzzled..
“Well, your abilities probably have nothing to do with divine power.?”
“you're right. However... this time I felt it was necessary to have weapons with various attributes..”
“Why?”
“The spider-shaped monster that appeared in this Unlucky event had virtually negligible physical damage. AMT operation involves not knowing what kind of monsters with characteristics and attributes you will be dealing with... I suddenly thought that it would be really difficult, especially when facing monsters with strong vitality such as undead, so I decided to use a weapon with divine power. I was thinking about having it..”
After giving a convincing explanation, Choi Jeong-cheol nodded..
“Oh, you are a thorough friend. Yes, you have an attitude of learning through experience, which is very good.!”
“thank you.”
“Okay, I'll tell the county governor and he'll pick out a few good guys, so you can take as many as you want..”
Choi Jeong-cheol didn't attach much importance to things like military posture, so this line wouldn't score much, but Kim Kang-seok was smiling happily because he was satisfied with every word he said..
“······ah! And this time, shouldn't you put another stick on your chest, battalion commander??”
“Yeah, I was going to ask that anyway. If you allow, I will process it..”
One more pole from corporal, meaning sergeant..
In other words, it is a special promotion..
Normal promotion came about two months later..
‘This... seems like they're building a dictionary to make him an officer.······.’
Lee Hyun-wook realized what these two people's intentions were for giving them special promotions..
I'm sorry, but I was never going to fall for that plan..
“Then, starting in a few days, I will become Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook.?”
“thank you I will work harder in the future.”
“Hmm, no. If you work harder than you are now, you'll be in big trouble.!”
“······yes?”
“To do that, you'll need to catch at least Drake! ha ha ha!”
Choi Jeong-cheol joked and laughed heartily..
***
Lee Hyun-wook asked the brigade commander for one more thing..
‘Brigadier, I hope my face is not known because of this incident..’
There was absolutely no advantage to having your face revealed to the world..
However, this was a welcome decision from the AMT perspective as well..
If civilian guilds keep an eye on the soldiers they are trying to raise, they will get tired..
Therefore, Lee Hyun-wook's existence was not revealed in the news covering this incident..
- ······The activities of AMT soldiers during the Seoul Station Unlucky event incident are being reported one after another. It is said that just one soldier saved about 800 citizens from monsters before King Han Taesan entered, but the identity of that soldier has not been confirmed..
- ······Citizens who were stranded at Seoul Station say with one voice that the AMT soldier saved them more than King Taesan Han, and that the hero deserves attention..
Of course, there was also a movement to report in detail..
It was natural that it would be the biggest concern of the world at the moment.······.
‘Anyway, in 4 days a big issue will arise that will bury everything..’
The Seoul Station Unlucky Event was literally a foreshadowing..
Full-scale outbreak of the 4th wave that will begin soon······.
All the gossip up until now wasn't going to matter anymore..
And Lee Hyun-wook also planned to prepare for that time from now on..
however······.
- (16:19:59) left until metal absorption.
“It's half a day······.”
‘The ‘secret armor of Mananan mac Rir’ was not an easy item to digest..
Even though the internal furnace was running at 150% efficiency, enough to enable daily life, 16 more hours were needed..
“Huh... As expected, it's still hard to absorb hero grade items..”
Of course, there was a lot of work to be done in the meantime..
First, I planned to cash in on the ‘reward points’ given by the brigade commander..
‘I got 8,000 points as a reward this time.······.’
In cash, it is about 12 million won..
And yesterday my salary came in, so I got 2.3 million won more..
Lee Hyun-wook bought a large number of items that could be converted into cash at the PX item store..
And I called Park Cheol-soo, and that very evening, Park Cheol-soo came to see me..
It was possible because it was not far from Singil to Namsan..
Lee Hyun-wook sat across from Park Cheol-soo in the visiting room..
“Brother, I'm sorry for telling you to come. Because I’m in a position where I can’t move.······.”
“It's okay, what's going on??”
Hyunwook Lee first held out a paper bag..
It was 4 cans of top quality powdered milk..
“First take this. I heard it was the best, I don't know what he eats, but I gave it a try..”
“Ah, thank you for everything....”
Next, he handed over the orbs and asked them to cash them all and invest in stocks..
“Oh, and brother, I have one more favor to ask you. I want you to go to Blacksmith Alley..”
“Blacksmith Alley? Why is there?”
On Master Kang Jeong-du's business card, I wrote down what I wanted to order from him and handed it to him..
“An iron ball filled with divine power? Uh, okay. Why do you need that??”
“That's because it's all useful. If you tell Master Kang my name, he will take care of it..”
“The same goes for investment in the Seongsu manufacturing industry, and soon the prices of items imbued with divine power will rise... Oh, no way, I'm just hoarding.?”
As expected, you are quick-witted to think in relation to the stocks that Lee Hyun-wook told you to invest in..
However, since he didn't tell me anything conclusive, there was no way to get the pulse right..
“No, it would be possible to hoard money with only 3 million won.?”
“Well, okay anyway. But are those stocks... really going up? There was no related news?”
“Brother, just wait a moment. And be sure to invest, too..”
“······.”
“Brother, believe me..”
“Yeah, I got it..”
Soon the apocalypse will begin and it will rise like Bitcoin in the old days.······.
Lee Hyun-wook swallowed those words..
***
“What is it, why is there no one??”
When Lee Hyun-wook returned from the visiting room, the dormitory was empty..
He was planning to take them all to training, but maybe they all went to a PX somewhere... With that in mind, he took his water bottle and went out of the barracks..
Even though my body's furnace was running, I still couldn't neglect exercise..
Since you had to wear a combat uniform to use the training ground, Lee Hyun-wook changed into his combat uniform..
And on the way to the training ground······.
“······uh! Are you here??”
Ahn Min-tae and other squad members were gathered near the iron bar..
And there were quite a few soldiers from other squads as well..
They turned their heads at Lee Hyun-wook's appearance as if they had made a promise..
And then each person started saying hello one by one..
“Ah, Corporal Lee Hyun-wook! Thank you for your hard work!”
“Sue, thank you for your hard work, hehe······.”
No matter how you look at this,······.
‘I feel like I'm getting attention from these sweaty boys.?’
Lee Hyun-wook couldn't help but feel a strange sense of pressure..
Anyway, it was like 15 people were tied to 4 iron bars..
It's saturated.
There was no one until a few days ago.······.
“······Um, what is it, why are there so many people??”
“ah! Would you like to use this bar??”
4One of the squad's privates said as he came down from the bar..
“No, you use it. I have to go to the training ground..”
“uh? Then can I come with you??”
The guy followed Lee Hyun-wook with a shy expression..
We normally didn't even pretend to know each other, but we act very blatantly friendly..
But there wasn't just one guy, but three or four of them..
There were people who followed me openly, but there were also people who followed me secretly from a distance..
‘······Why are they like this??’
Mintae Ahn grinned and came closest..
“Wow, they seem like kids following some kind of taffy seller. Look at those expressions, waiting for even a piece of taffy to fall..”
“What is that metaphor? Ahn Min-tae... You are from the generation that followed the taffy seller.?”
“Well, wouldn't it just look like that??”
However, when he arrived at the training site, Lee Hyun-wook heard a funny story..
“······Junmo, he trained for a duel.?”
“Yes, that's right. So I just went to the infirmary..”
Whenever a group of new recruits move in, the seniors' bad taste kicks in..
The plan was to conduct duel training among new recruits..
Park Jun-mo was also such a toy before he became a private, and his record was... total defeat..
I really wasn't good at it..
“Ha, infirmary? It's broken again?”
“Haha, no. It's the opposite.”
“······huh?”
“After breaking the opponent's nose, I electrocuted him and made him lie on his back..”
······Oh, what happened??
When Lee Hyun-wook made that expression, Ahn Min-tae laughed and explained..
“Park Jun-mo, that bastard, has been going crazy lately, trying to emulate Corporal Lee Hyun-wook. I am now doing 5 sets of 7 to 8 pull-ups, and I am also proud of the strength training I do regularly..”
When I thought about it, it seemed like my ability to use electricity at Seoul Station had improved considerably..
“Ah, so I guess······.”
Lee Hyun-wook looked around..
These guys who have been following Lee Hyun-wook now, since Lee Hyun-wook has completely changed and even Park Jun-mo has shown improvement, do they think there is something great about Lee Hyun-wook??
‘What can I say, I feel like I’m the first instructor in Daechi-dong.······.’
Lee Hyun-wook didn't know it, but there was a joke going around in the company that said, "Lee Hyun-wook will get lucky if he gets a coin.".
At that time, one more person approached.
“I······.”
It was Lee Won-seok, a large private..
He was carrying a training sword on one shoulder..
“······Corporal Lee Hyun-wook?”
As the guy's thick voice rang out quietly, everyone around him couldn't help but get nervous..
This is because I thought that the relationship between the two who had a fight not long ago was not that good..
Lee Hyun-wook also wondered if this kid had lost his mind and was trying to start a fight again..
“······.”
But it looked quite different from back then..
Above all, the gang that he carried around like a folding screen, and my classmates, were looking in this direction hesitantly from afar..
“If you have time, I have something to tell you..”
“What?”
“······Would you like to duel with me one more time??”
Someone swallowed dry saliva at that remark..
Is it true that he is sharpening his sword after his last loss and wants to apply for a ‘revenge match’??
“······.”
a moment of silence······.
Then Lee Won-seok looked embarrassed for a moment..
“ah! Well, I'm not saying I'm going to start another fight or anything, but to be honest,······.”
“······.”
“Well, that's because I want to learn what my problem is.!”
Lee Won-seok bowed his head..
“Well, I want to apply to become a non-commissioned officer, but I feel like I'm not good enough.!”
“······.”
This was also an embarrassing situation..
Oh Sang-guk and Kwak Jin-cheol, the guy who hung out with them and was always acting like a bully, asked Lee Hyun-wook, who beat him up, to bend his pride and teach him a lesson.······,
Lee Hyun-wook chuckled..
“Great.”
“yes?”
“I also wish I had a living, moving training partner, come up.”
Lee Hyun-wook said as he climbed into the battle box..
“Ah, that... huh······.”
Lee Won-seok’s expression turned pale..
Because it reminded me of my last nightmare..
“why don't you like it?”
“Oh no! As long as you teach me, you can beat me as much as you want! By the way, Corporal Lee Hyun-wook? I hope you don't strangle me.······.”
Lee Hyun-wook rolled his eyes..
“Higher-ranking Orcs sometimes use grappling and ground techniques, but if you, a tank, encounter such guys, you'll want to run away.?”
“ah······.”
Then the guy tapped my cheek and suddenly jumped up to the battle box..
“yes! Then I'll prepare to faint.!”
This kind of phenomenon, the interest and requests from the company members, honestly, it was really annoying..
but······.
‘very useful.’
Lee Hyun-wook thought it was a good thing..
4tea wave······.
In order to overcome the long hell that was about to begin, it was necessary to use a battalion of troops..
According to original history, after the 4th wave, those who survive here in the 1st Battalion, 1st Company······
‘······There were only 7 people including me..’
Yes, it was virtually annihilated..
‘But this time will be different.’
Lee Hyun-wook looked at the company members who were training hard..
‘If they follow what I say, they won't just survive.······.’
He released his wrists and stood facing Lee Won-seok..
‘······4You can eat the whole tea wave.’
1If controlling and attacking multiple gates is like sea fishing, the 4th wave was like hunting and dismembering a huge whale..
In other words, it was never a problem that could be solved alone. Like operating a whaling ship sailing through the ocean, multiple crew members had to work together..
And as if to support his aspirations, a system message appeared before his eyes..
- Metal absorption is complete. (Mananan Mak Mir's Secret Armor)
* Steerable metal weight increased. : 2,961g
‘Hero grade armor, I finally absorbed it..’
- Current controllable ‘metal’ weight: 21,358g
2.9kg increased at once, metal control exceeded 20kg.
But this was just the beginning.
- congratulations! By satisfying special conditions, the ‘Strong Body’ skill is greatly strengthened.!
As the swallowed metal was an 'armor' item, it was automatically fused with a similar 'hard body' item..
All the options attached to hero grade armor, some of them would have been 'skilled'..
Just as Lee Hyun-wook was about to check the details,······.
- Hook- Ah, this is being preached from the administrative department.······
Something unexpected has begun.
- ······Corporal Lee Hyun-wook, Corporal Lee Hyun-wook, please go to the battalion commander's office immediately. This is a call from the battalion commander. End of abnormal spread.
I couldn't even guess what the battalion commander was calling me on Saturday morning..
Lee Hyun-wook immediately headed to the captain’s office..
And the moment you open the door to the battalion commander's office and enter,
“······If we send them there, all our children will die.!”
A voice like Kim Kang-seok's shouting,
Lee Hyun-wook couldn't help but be embarrassed for a moment..
This is because I have never seen Kim Kang-seok screaming..
There was someone sitting in front of him..
The raid tactics instructor of the Black Tiger unit was Warrant Officer Cheon Myeong-ho..
The two people turned their heads and looked at Lee Hyun-wook..
Their faces were hard.
······Anyway, what does this mean, that they all die??
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