The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 30
30. Cheongdam-dong, Red Gate - 3
=======================
Park Ki-taek, leader of the Cheonghwa strategy team, was receiving healing from a healer and was looking blankly at the sky..
As a team leader in his own right, he constantly thought about what to do next..
“······.”
Then a thought occurred to me and I jumped up..
“hey! Fuck, this won’t work! hey! Taeseop!”
“yes?”
“Boss mob... let's just shoot it down.!”
At his words, everyone on Cheonghwa's attack team raised their heads..
gulp-
In particular, Kim Tae-seop swallowed dry saliva with a mesmerized expression..
When your name was called, it meant you had to do something..
Moreover, didn't you just say it was sniping??
Kim Tae-seop had that ‘sniper’ characteristic..
“······yes? I'm sniping?”
“Even if we get back from here alive, it's the only way we won't be kicked out of the guild..”
It was the 4th attack team that invested a huge amount of money and time..
If the strategy ended with 0% contribution, the guild leader would not sit still..
“Now... you're telling me to steal it.?”
Steal, literally means stealing..
However, it meant stealing monsters, items, etc. that belonged to other players in the game..
“Hey, aren't you a sniper? It's natural for a sniper to hide behind you and kill you secretly with one shot, but damn Steel, what kind of law can there be? That's not even determined by the system! Isn't that so??”
“Ah, um······.”
Although it was quite far-fetched, it was the best justification..
“You have to accumulate your contribution, but won't you use your 'seed right' to secure the 'Spear of Achilles'... if AMT claims ownership of the spear and things get complicated... ··· Well, of course the guild will make a good deal and secure it, but we will just leave..”
The Spear of Achilles, a priceless hero-grade item, lay dormant here..
With the body of the previous owner, the second grandson of the second-ranking business owner in Korea.······.
‘It's all because of such a proud bastard wearing great items but falling behind inside.!’
This was the point when the first attack on Red Gate failed..
Dong-hoon Dong-hoon, the grandson of the second-highest ranking Korean businessman who had just signed a contract with the Cheonghwa Guild, took his gang with him, saying he would try to attack them..
The idea must have been to conquer a dungeon that had previously failed to conquer and make a name for itself as a brilliant new talent, but it seems that it even garnered the support of my grandfather, the chairman of the Gugwang Group..
So, after the Gukwang Group lobbied the Cheonghwa Guild, a team was organized around Dong-hoon Dong..
The item I received from my grandfather at that time was the ‘Spear of Achilles.’······.
What is the result······.
However, the Gugwang Group was in an uproar, asking for at least the spear to be taken out, even though they did not know the body of Dong-hoon Koo..
That's because it was an item that was at the highest level among hero grades and difficult to put a price on..
According to rumors within the guild, they have agreed to compensate 8 billion won if the recovery is successful..
‘It's 8 billion won just to return it.······.’
It meant that its true value was truly enormous..
Nevertheless, the reason the Cheonghwa Guild bothered to hand it over was to maintain the relationship with the Gugwang Group..
As such, the Cheonghwa Guild's business was at stake in that item..
“Huh, the situation is already bad, but in order for our guild to secure that seed right, shouldn't we still have some level of contribution??”
“but······.”
The seed right was the right of the party who first gained ownership of the dungeon to be the first to select ‘compensation’..
In this case, I was naturally planning to choose ‘Spear of Achilles’..
However, if the contribution is 0%... what right can you claim??
That's why Park Ki-taek chose the last resort..
steal······.
“Hey Taeseop, this is a real opportunity for you. I'll be in hell anyway... As for you, you bastard, if you just stick an arrow into the heart of the boss monster at the critical moment, you will become the hero of the guild, and you can go out and get the Ferrari you've wanted so much! You're the one who protected Achilles' spear. Why don't you give me a generous bonus??”
“Ferrari, Ferrari······.”
Kim Tae-seop thought for a moment and then stood up holding the arrow..
Didn’t he come in with confidence, saying he was going to risk his life anyway??
“Huh... I understand..”
“oh! Have you made up your mind??”
“The guy over there who was a corporal or something was already out of luck, so I'll give him a big slap in the back. But the one shot I'm aiming for is really strong.?”
He slapped me on the cheek and pulled down the ‘Cheoltaegung’ from around his shoulder..
Then Park Ki-taek, who was lying down sick, got up and tapped Kim Tae-seop on the shoulder..
“okay! That's cool, kid! can do!”
With the support of his teammates, C-rank 2nd tier sniper Kim Tae-seop's 'steal' operation has begun..
***
“Don't let your guard down yet and be aware of your surroundings..”
At Lee Hyun-wook's words, the eight platoon members looked everywhere with the tips of all their weapons aimed in all directions..
Whoa whoa-
A gust of wind blew away all the sand and dust that had risen from the fierce battle..
There was no movement.
“Currently...no one has been identified.”
the battle is over.
Of the 44 that attacked, 32 were killed and the rest escaped..
It was a perfect victory.
From the moment the iron balls in the sand exploded under the feet of the group of gnolls, the victory was already in jeopardy. There were about 20 gnolls that became immobile with just one hit..
Moreover, since something suddenly exploded under their feet, the fear that something like that might happen again grew in their minds, and they were unable to move freely..
In other words, with just one blow, their fighting spirit was completely erased..
After that, they were literally wiped out through systematic response under Lee Hyun-wook's orders..
“But I... I just reached level 18 through battle..”
Mintae Ahn said.
“Oh, awesome! Have you leveled up again??”
“Yeah, haha, I want something like this······.”
His face was filled with emotion..
This was because the level, which had been stagnant for several months, rose by 3 in just a few days..
Kobold Gate, Seoul Station Unlucky Event, and even this Red Gate······.
Unprecedented experiences poured in..
“and! Congratulations, Corporal Mintae Ahn.!”
“I just reached level 17, I'll catch up soon.!”
In this way, everyone except Park Jun-mo, who was in F grade, experienced a level up..
This was very encouraging.
The average level of the 1st Company, the company's first combat unit, was around level 23..
Really, it wouldn't be long before the 5th squad caught up with the 1st squad..
‘As expected, it’s growing well..’
If I had stayed below level 15, I would not have been able to handle the 4th wave..
And in fact, the first to be wiped out was the weakest squad, Squad 5..
Even that happened on the first day of the wave..
‘by the way······.’
Lee Hyun-wook felt a sense of strangeness for a moment..
‘I think a rat followed me.······.’
I felt a ‘bunch of metal’ moving behind a hill in the distance..
Lee Hyun-wook closed his eyes and looked at the metal in detail..
‘This······.’
I felt something familiar among the metal..
‘······It's a clock.’
I knew it well because I had touched it once..
Before entering the gate, the thing that bothered Lee Hyun-wook was the watch of Ahn Min-tae's training camp classmate, Kim Tae-seop..
And crucially, small moth-like metals gathered tightly in one place.······.
It was a quiver of arrows..
This made it clear that the owner of the watch, Kim Tae-seop, was also an archer..
‘······Furthermore, he is a sniper..’
Lee Hyun-wook even took a close look at the weapons of the Cheonghwa Guild raid team and figured out their strength..
This is because it was basic to understand and analyze the opponent's strength before a joint attack..
From what I saw at the time, Kim Tae-seop's bow-cheoltaegung was equipped with a dot sight with an optical zoom, and his utility belt was equipped with a 'sharpshooter's potion' that dramatically suppresses body tremors..
It was a typical item setting for a sniper..
‘The reason I'm following along now is, of course, to snipe at the boss monster.······.’
Other than the common act of ‘stealing’, there is no reason for a sniper to be so excited..
Since they had no position at all, their intention was to secure 'contribution' with one decisive blow..
The score given by the ‘boss monster’ was quite high..
‘But this is kind of stupid, not realizing that I can sense metal.······.’
If you know one thing, you can become a useful player if you know at least five sixes, if not ten. Looking at the abilities Lee Hyun-wook has shown so far, you wouldn't expect him to be able to detect metal, and he would follow you around like that with metal all over his body.······.
It was just pathetic..
‘After all, things like player ratings are useless.······.’
Hyunwook Lee laughed and turned his head..
I decided to pretend not to know for now..
“Now, let's move forward again. You'll soon face a boss mob, so brace yourself again..”
because······.
‘Great, I can use it at a crucial moment..’
Raiding was about taking advantage of everything available..
Even if it's another player······.
***
Kim Tae-seop was running in the desert..
‘Yes, as the team leader said, if I make good progress this time, I can go higher in the future.!’
He was actually one of the players that the Cheonghwa Guild was paying attention to..
First of all, the sniper trait was quite rare and highly utilized among the archer class, and one 'skill' he had greatly increased his sniping ability..
[Skill information]
- Name: Sneak Shoot)
- Grade: D
- Effect: Consumes mana (100) when hiding to deliver a fatal blow. (+440%)
Level growth players were able to 'randomly' obtain a skill every 5 levels, but Kim Tae-seop obtained this skill, which boasts the best synergy with the sniper trait, when he was only level 10..
In other words, he was the best prospect in the mission of sniping boss monsters..
Meanwhile, it wasn't that difficult for him to travel through this hot and dry desert..
- ‘The ‘Rough Terrain Maneuvering’ skill is functioning..
Because I possessed these skills, I was able to run even in most adverse conditions..
Just like that, we quickly caught up with the AMT special attack platoon that had gone ahead..
however······.
“uh? Uh, Mr.······.”
They were under attack in the middle of the desert.
A group of over forty gnolls formed a shield square and were entering from three directions..
9Although the players were maintaining pretty good positions,······.
“Wow, fuck... that thing is killing me.?”
No matter how I looked at it, the situation didn't look very good..
They were allowing the gnoll group to approach without causing any damage..
Suddenly, the siege was narrowed to less than 100m..
“Well, if they die, won’t that end for us too??”
When that thought occurred to me, I wondered if I should provide support fire..
If you start sniping here, you should be able to kill at least 5 or 6 in no time..
“no······.”
But I held on.
If you step out for no reason, you could become a target while you are away..
“No, I'm asking why you're not doing anything... Shouldn't we keep them in check so they don't come near?······.”
I felt sick the whole time I was watching it..
It seemed like those nine people would be torn to pieces by the gnolls at any moment, and if that happened, the attack strategy would have been in vain..
But then, something unbelievable happened.
T-huh! T-huh! T-huh!
“omg! What, what??”
Like a natural disaster, out of nowhere, the floor exploded..
Kim Tae-seop had no idea what was happening..
T-huh! T-huh! T-huh!
However, the attack caused dozens of gnolls to collapse..
And that's when it started.
Nine players who had shown static movements moved in unison..
They poured out their cherished skills one after another and pushed back against the gnolls whose battle lines had collapsed..
It was an instant.
The gnolls did not respond properly..
What can I say... I felt like I was already dispirited..
Ah-ooh!
A howling was heard from afar as if urging an attack, but it was no use..
“Wow, crazy... What on earth is that bastard??”
At the center of all the movement was a man called Corporal Lee Hyun-wook..
The AMT soldiers, who defeated one battle without any loss, advanced again..
And about 20 minutes later, we encountered another ambush..
This time it was a surprise attack where they hid in the sand and came out all at once..
“omg! I think there are about 60 of them.······.”
Now, perhaps more wary of unidentified explosions rising from the floor than attacks from pieces of metal, the group of gnolls abandoned their defensive attitude and chose to charge from all directions..
It was the enemy's strategy, but it was so excellent..
If they stick together and lead to a 'melee', all of Lee Hyun-wook's biggest weapons, such as metal storms and explosions, will be blocked.······.
But the operation could not take place.
it was no other reason.
‘What, what? What is so systematic??’
Because the AMT soldiers responded so well..
Four people holding shields, including Lee Hyun-wook, ran forward first to greet the enemies..
They fell on our allies' gunners and wizards, stood tall in the correct position, and attracted 'aggro'..
‘······what?’
At first glance, it seemed that the friendly troops' 'rear line' was not protected... but that was the optimal position to block the 'muddy fight' that the enemy wanted as much as possible by widening the distance between the friendly troops..
Immediately after, the flame magic that the wizards had prepared in advance was released..
Puh-uh! Pu-uong!
They burst from the 'interruption' of a group of gnolls.
Then, for a moment, the gnolls in the 'rear' had no choice but to hesitate and retreat.,
On the contrary, the 'leading' gnolls rushed forward at even faster speeds to avoid the flames..
Simply put, the distance between the front and back of the gnoll line has widened significantly..
In other words, the offensive was halted with just two fire magic hits..
“-It's now!”
I heard Lee Hyun-wook’s cry..
At the same time, they concentrated their firepower on the leading gnolls and literally melted them..
The gnolls from the rear came to their senses late and rushed in.······.
“······Go, let’s break each other down..”
Before the muddy fight began, the front and back were split into two and each was swallowed up..
‘What is it? It's so simple, but so accurate.?’
At first glance, there was no particularly complex connection..
‘Simple and clear tactics······.’
That was the correct answer.
Because it was simple and clear, everyone was able to complete their duties properly without mistakes..
In other words, it was the most efficient tactic..
Kim Tae-seop could not help but admire every moment as he followed their footsteps..
‘But they said that was their first strategy.?’
This was also Kim Tae-seop’s first strategy..
However, for this day, I trained for quite a long time and even took a special tactical lecture from a well-known strategy team belonging to the Cheonghwa Guild..
So I knew to some extent.
‘That's actually a textbook.······.’
How amazing are their judgments and movements?······.
And on the other hand, I was even jealous.
‘How much experience did you get??’
Just 9 people wiped out over 100 gnolls in a matter of hours.
Moreover, if it is Red Gate, the bonus experience points will be significant.······.
He must have leveled up several times..
‘Crazy... I'll be able to raise it to at least level 2, or even level 3..’
This was a huge opportunity that would not come easily to a lower level player..
As a result of moving forward without stopping, we arrived at a place that was like an ‘oasis’..
There were crude huts lined up around a small water hole..
It seemed to be a village of the gnoll race, and just looking at it, it was a place where a 'boss monster' could appear..
‘Huh... Okay, this is not the time to be admiring. Now the target appears.’
Kim Tae-seop recalled his goal and prepared the Cheoltaegung..
At that time, a 'target' was detected in his eyes..
‘It's him. That guy is the boss.’
Among the group of gnolls whose numbers had been greatly reduced after several battles, a gnome with gray fur was seen..
It was a head taller than a normal gnoll, so it was likely to be over 2m long..
And so, with the appearance of this guy, the final battle ‘boss battle’ began..
“Uh, what is it?······.”
However, the expression "boss battle" was meaningless, as the scene was much more overwhelming than the last battle..
It had to be that way..
The gnoll group had already been weakened by numerous defeats..
On the other hand, the players actually became stronger..
This was because he repeatedly ‘leveled up’ through overwhelming victories..
“Oh, that's ridiculous... It's really just them.······.”
It seemed like the outcome of the battle had already been decided..
‘No, it's useless if you can't catch the boss mob..’
Kim Tae-seop came to his senses and turned his attention to the boss monster..
But before I knew it, Lee Hyun-wook and Old Alpha Male were fighting..
Huff- huh- huh- huh-
The guy pulled out two very large Kukri and swung them around, and Lee Hyun-wook controlled five or six iron balls and two daggers to corner the guy..
However, Lee Hyun-wook's attack could not reach the guy's body..
Chae-Ang!
The Old Alpha Male swung his Kukri at incredible speed and knocked them down with ease..
visor! visor! visor! visor! visor!
Even if I fired five or six at the same time, he waved his arms around and knocked them all off..
Incredible body vision and agile movements,
It was like watching a master in a martial arts world..
‘······As expected, the boss monster is different??’
It was then.
T-huh!
With an explosion, an 'iron ball' exploded near Old Alpha Male's face..
However, unlike regular gnolls, there seemed to be no significant damage, perhaps because the leather was thick..
‘Hmm, isn’t that the maximum firepower he can produce? If that thing gets blocked, you can't win.?’
But Old Alpha Male's defense didn't end there..
The moment the iron ball exploded and the fragments flew out, something translucent was seen around the guy's body..
that······.
‘······crazy! Do you even have a magic shield? finished!’
It meant that unless you could break through the magic shield, you couldn't inflict any effective damage..
In other words, that person didn't have the ability to catch the boss monster..
but······.
“Hehe... Anyway, my one shot works..”
Kim Tae-seop laughed..
Because he felt that it was his turn to step forward..
He wasn't a sniper for nothing.
There was only one hit of damage that was more than enough to offset the magic shield..
“Yes, I knew very well that you were a really great guy, Hyunwook Lee or whatever..”
He took out a sniper arrow with a thin plate of 'orihalcon' on the tip, and hung it on the string..
device device-
And he aimed precisely at Old Alpha Male's chest..
“I'm sorry······.”
But he had a smile on his face..
“······Life is a practice, a baby. I hope you learn a little more from this opportunity..”
If we let go of this protest, this steel plan will succeed..
His arrowhead would pierce Old Alpha Male's heart precisely and his 'contribution' would be secured..
also······.
Those AMT guys were going to get pretty hot in the back..
That was a bit heartwarming..
But, at that moment-
“-evil!”
He screamed as he felt pain out of nowhere..
It was because the watch on his left wrist bit his arm again..
“What, what?!”
and because of that······.
Too-ung-
I ended up misplacing the tensioned demonstration..
“uh······.”
Shhh-
It is clearly flying towards its target, but it is somewhat deflected.-
In other words, it was an angle that could not have been a fatal blow..
“Oh, no······.”
And the old alpha male turned his head this way as if he heard Kim Tae-seop's scream.,
The guy turned around and prepared to block Kim Tae-seop's arrow..
On the other hand, as if they knew it and didn't care at all.,
Rather, Lee Hyun-wook moves again, as if using that moment as an opportunity.······.
At that moment, Kim Tae-seop realized.
‘Oh, no way······’
Watch... strange pain······.
Lee Hyun-wook······ Ability to manipulate metal······.
“······Damn, you knew from the beginning that I was chasing you.?”
I couldn't believe it.
But the scene that happened next was even more unbelievable..
“what!”
In the blink of an eye, Old Alpha Male was torn apart..
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