Novels online

The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 48

48fury. 

===================================

“......Please. Yes, I'll get back to you..”

Kang Seo-yoon, ranked 4th in the Korean player rankings, finished a call with someone..

At that moment, news was coming out on a wall-mounted TV..

- ……As criticism grows against the government and guilds for failing to come up with a solution, the future of South Korea, which has emerged as a top player powerhouse, is becoming uncertain..

"What is the rise? The countries above have sunk and have risen relatively........"

It was true that South Korea was considered the most powerful player powerhouse of modern times..

However, the reason was not because the players in this country were all great, but because the powers that were initially doing well—the United States, Germany, China, etc.—were swept away by the wave one after another..

As a result, Korea's international standing increased, but…….

'……Now it's our turn.’

Maybe this country was destined to sink too..

- oh my-! My son is in there! please save me!

News screens began showing images of people gathered somewhere and protesting..

The image of a middle-aged woman crying and begging to save her family trapped in the wave zone, young players burning with chivalry and going on a rampage, threatening to break through the wave zone at any moment.…….

"Ha, it's really stupid to say that they're going to break in, but someone has to step up, and it's not them, it's the smart guys.……."

She felt bitter and turned off the TV..

Then I opened the door and went out..

Then a loud commotion overtook her..

“—3Okay, communication has been established. yes! It's called the White Tiger Guild.!”

"This is new information! There is a corpse golem wandering around Dongjak-gu.!”

"what? Doesn't that mean there are death wizards around??”

Dozens of employees were busy coming and going in a huge space where all kinds of people were mixed up..

This was a situation room set up in the basement. .

What we are currently responding to is, of course, the 4th wave..

It wasn't that damn 'after-action plan', it was just focusing on this moment..

In other words, it was a 'control tower' designed to prevent 'Seoul erosion'..

And the ‘head player’ in charge of this organization was none other than Kang Seo-yoon..

In cases like this, a high-ranking government official is usually in charge.……

This time she wore the armband for a variety of reasons..

“13Burn Wizard has been linked to a player whose whereabouts are unknown. Record the conversation.”

“44Burn Wizard, located in Daerim 2-dong, is communicating with B-level player Cheolhee Lee..”

“51Communication with the Burn Wizard has been lost... … Looks like I was attacked.”

And the main task of this 'Control Tower' was 'communication' with players inside the wave zone..

Persuade and rally internal players and handle them to find the cause of erosion..

The decision makers in the control tower agreed that that was the best they could do from the outside..

So, 35 advanced wizards were currently being mobilized to communicate with players inside the wave zone..

"Emergency communications officer, how did you reach some places??”

The man sitting at the highest place turned his head at Kang Seo-yoon’s words..

"Oh, there are a few so far. But the reaction was……."

"under… … Why won't you come forward even if I give you a legendary item??”

"Yeah, well, I don't want to die. If this had a strong central point, people would believe in it and gather together... … Ha—since there's nothing, everyone says they'll just watch for now..”

"Well, I don't want to carry a gun, is it?……."

Well, the wave was on a different level from the usual gate..

It's an inexplicable hurricane that has never been overcome before..

Who would want to go into it??

Therefore, a ‘centre point’ was needed..

Someone worth trusting and following…….

'……If so, those who covet items, cash, and the rewards will begin to secretly band together..’

The problem was that we had not yet found a talent capable of becoming such a focal point..

Why on earth is there not a single person like that in the vast land of Seoul?…….

“ah! however… … Only one place gave a positive answer. Even before we delivered the news, they were already carrying out systematic response operations..”

Kang Seo-yoon’s eyes lit up..

Who on earth is this force that took action early in a wave zone where there is no dream or hope?!

"oh! Where is it? Is it a guild? What is the leader’s level? How many people are gathered??”

she asked a barrage of questions.

But for some reason, there was only bitterness on the emergency communications officer's face..

"But that… … This is AMT. The 1st Battalion, 3rd Port Horse Brigade, located in Namsan, formed a special operation team this morning and began an operation to search for causes of erosion..”

"ah......."

I was looking forward to it, but I wasn't really happy with the news..

‘After all, AMT…….'

In particular, the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Port Horse Brigade was not a special forces unit, but a unit centered around soldiers..

In other words, her judgment was that it would not be a very useful force..

Then, someone came up behind her..

It was a middle-aged man wearing a white suit..

"uh? Representative Ki, what’s going on here??”

Ki Baekjun was the head of Korea's 3rd guild 'Taesan' and the 10th ranked player in Korea..

"I'm here in person to bring you positive news..”

“yes?”

"At that time, one of our guild's main attack teams was attacking the open gate in Heukseok-dong..

"ah?”

“1A while ago, we received a call saying that the attack had been completed, and after a short maintenance, we decided to start searching for the cause of erosion. It is a fairly talented team with one grade A member and three grade B members..”

Kang Seo-yoon nodded repeatedly with an expectant expression, and Ki Baek-jun smiled..

"Focusing on those friends... … I thought it would be good to get the players together..”

***

“……It won't take long.”

Just before entering the tunnel, Lee Hyun-wook spoke as if he were sure..

However, Ahn Min-tae, who accompanied him, honestly expected a short fight. This was because if you entered that dark tunnel, there was a high probability that you would encounter a ‘boss monster’..

‘I don't know what will come out, but it's definitely going to be a huge one..’

It was hard to imagine catching the boss monster of a ‘wave’ so quickly, even though it wasn’t a regular gate..

Of course, I believed that Lee Hyun-wook would do it somehow.…….

‘However, it is natural that a considerable amount of time is needed..’

Ahn Min-tae thought so..

however…….

"crazy……."

Now he stuck his tongue out in surprise..

The target was, surprisingly, Lee Hyun-wook..

‘Anyway, it's still a boss monster.—!’

The reason was that the boss monster turned into red mush with just a few gestures..

even…….

‘I think it took about 10 minutes... … Does this make sense??’

Yeah, it was 10 minutes ago..

While they were moving through the tunnel, they encountered a Line 1 train blocking the road. At that time, Lee Hyun-wook said that it appeared that a boss monster had built a nest inside it..

And indeed, within it, it was curled up.

Wow――!

The name of the boss monster was 'Hell Rat Mutant', and from Ahn Min-tae's memory, it was a rat the size of a brown bear with two heads and six writhing tentacles like snakes on its back..

Everyone was momentarily shocked by that bizarre appearance..

However, as always, Lee Hyun-wook spoke with a calm expression..

“Tsk—I chose the wrong nest, but I chose it too wrong..”

And as always, I slowly raised my left hand..

Yeah, that was the beginning..

Lee Hyun-wook inserted hundreds of iron balls into the train and caused 'shredding' one after another..

Bur—bur—bur—bur—buck—!

Then, the piece of metal bounced around in the narrow train and stabbed the boss monster mercilessly..

Naturally, the boss monster tried to get out of it, but something strange happened..

‘The iron pillars inside the train moved like snakes and began to restrain the boss monster.!’

Ahn Min-tae saw clearly. The numerous stainless steel handles attached to the inside of the train—the frames are all collapsing, like chains, tying down various parts of the boss monster's body.…….

Min-tae Ahn didn't know it, but it was the 'metal transformation' that Hyun-wook Lee had recently developed..

By deforming the solid stainless steel, it instantly tied up the guy's body..

But that thing couldn't completely stop the movement of that big guy..

With just one struggle, they snapped off..

But Lee Hyun-wook was not unaware of that..

thud—!

He immediately moved the four Living Armor units and blocked the back door to prevent him from coming out..

He then ordered the wizards to shoot 'freezing magic' into the space between the train and the tunnel..

Blah blah blah――!

The narrow gap became filled with ice, and escaping through the window became impossible..

In other words, it seemed like the boss monster was completely trapped inside the train..

Immediately after that, Lee Hyun-wook focused his energy on the metal inside the train..

Hundreds of iron beads that had been placed in advance were ‘shattered’ and ‘deformed’ into sharp points..

They began to spin noisily, entangled with the boss monster..

Because it was a narrow train, not a single piece could be avoided..

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga―!

No matter how boss monsters were, they couldn't withstand such crazy attacks.,

Blood splattered and splattered on the window. Then later, a piece of flesh flew out and stuck to my jaw..

Ahn Min-tae looked at the scene and felt goosebumps rising..

‘What is this... … It's not even a blender.…….'

Ahn Min-tae’s impression was accurate..

As if the train had become a giant blender, it trapped the boss monster and tore it to pieces..

Lee Hyun-wook even instructed Park Jun-mo to pour all the ‘electric current’ into the train… … The idea was to stun the struggling guy and make it a little easier to grind..

‘It's the devil! After all, the best devil is human.!’

Just like that, the boss monster was unable to escape from the train.,

Due to the sin of choosing the wrong nest, we were divided again and again for about 5 minutes..

Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga―!

Even though the thing seemed to have stopped moving, Lee Hyun-wook did not stop and turned the 'mixer'..

It took just 10 minutes to get there..

In that short period of time, an unrecognizable ‘what was once a boss monster’ was born..

“Wook—!”

"shit… … It looks like ground meat.”

Looking at that horrible scene made me feel nauseous even though I was wearing a gas mask..

"No, how on earth did this happen…? … Still, it's the boss monster of the wave.……."

Ahn Min-tae asked that in a state of ecstasy, but Lee Hyun-wook looked like it was no big deal..

“Raids can sometimes be strangely easy if you use compatibility properly..”

In fact, ‘Helet Mutant’ was not a very powerful boss monster in the first place..

‘He's just a watchman at the gate behind him..’

As the danger of the monster called Hell Let was focused on the overwhelming 'number' that constantly poured out, the boss monster was designed only to guard the gate, and was a kind of balance..

To those who didn't know that fact, it would have seemed like an incredibly overwhelming battle..

"Now, let's go inside..”

"Ugh......."

With Lee Hyun-wook in the lead, we entered the train that had been used as a blender until just now..

Sticky blood was splattering here and there like jelly..

"shit……."

And there were metal pieces everywhere, so if you did something wrong, your clothes and skin would be torn..

But on top of a lump of flesh, there was a sword stuck. It was the sword of the clouds.

- An unknown energy fills the cloud sword.. (100%)

‘Fortunately, it stuck in my heart..’

By absorbing that guy's blood, the level finally reached 100%..

The moment Lee Hyun-wook retrieved it, another system message appeared before his eyes..

- congratulations! The potential of the Cloud Sword has been unleashed and it has been upgraded to ‘Unsuamsu’.!

‘Unleashing your potential, it’s finally done.’

Lee Hyun-wook confirmed the information about the Cloud Sword, or rather, ‘Unsuamsu’..

[Item information]

- Name: Unsaamsu (Cloud Master))

- Effect: Absorbs water and emits 'water fog' or 'electricity'.

The existing 'Water Fog Release' skill still existed, and a new 'Electricity Release' was added..

Wooooow――

And what looked like ancient Chinese characters was engraved on the wavy blade of the sword..

They gave off a white light for a moment.—

Phage support――

An electric current lingered throughout the blade of the cloud sword..

‘Now, when you need a surprise attack, you won't have to rely on Park Jun-mo..’

As I thought when I first held this sword, the combination of steel and electricity was truly amazing..

Of course, it will take some practice to use it properly, but now is not the time..

"Listen carefully, I killed the boss monster, but the 'World Stone' did not appear..”

“……yes?”

"Is there such a case??”

When you kill a boss monster, a ‘World Stone’ appears..

And when you destroy it, the gate closes..

This was the basic formula for conquering dungeons..

“There are various reasons, but one of them is the ‘erosion factor’. keep moving forward.”

They passed the train, came out the other side, and advanced once again into the darkness..

Since we found evidence that the target was not far away, there was no time to waste..

At that time, Lee Hyun-wook discovered something..

"hmm… … Wait a minute, look at the wall here..”

Park Jun-mo raised the flashlight and shined it on the place Lee Hyun-wook pointed..

On the wall of the concrete tunnel, between the cracks, something black was stuck..

"uh? It looks like a crystal."

Lee Hyun-wook took out a dagger and scratched it..

“……what is that?”

"Dungeon iron ore.”

- You have acquired dungeon iron ore (grade 3)..

It was a representative material item that could be obtained in a dungeon..

If a blacksmith player reforges this, it can be made into Dungeon Steel..

"yes? Is that what grows here??”

"This is proof that this place is becoming a ‘dungeon’..”

"Well, that means……."

"Simply put, it means that erosion is taking place..”

Erosion progresses very rapidly over the course of five days, with an explosive 'cataclysm' occurring on the last day. The earth actually turned upside down and the climate changed so drastically that earthquakes and storms occurred in the surrounding area..

The precursor to that phenomenon was sprouting from small parts like this..

"Anyway, it's a good sign for us right now. This means that the erosion agent is very close by..”

The party increased their forward speed a little more..

And after about 5 more minutes…….

"Look over there! It's the gate!”

Finally, a purple shimmer caught my eye..

There were dozens of Hellets gathered around there, but they were able to deal with them without any problems, and the group searched the area. And I found something about 10 meters away beyond the gate..

"Here, there's something on the floor!”

A red stone was stuck between the cracks in the railroad tracks and on the concrete floor, and red blood vessels were sticking out and writhing. It looked like a seed had taken root..

Thumping— pounding— pounding— pounding—

And then there was this periodic vibration..

What should I say… … Yeah, it felt like a heart..

"It's a world stone!”

Min-tae Ahn said that and Hyun-wook Lee nodded..

"To be precise, it is an erosion factor..”

"omg! Is that so?”

“Ahn Min-tae, don’t just train, do some studying too..”

As such, the identity of the ‘erosion factor’ was the ‘World Stone’..

When the World Stone takes root on the Earth's surface and causes large-scale topographical changes, that is 'erosion'.,

Even if it was not a wave, the World Stone left for a long time caused erosion..

anyway—

‘Okay, I blocked one with this..’

Lee Hyun-wook fired a pale note and struck the World Stone..

j-ang—!

With a loud noise, cracks appeared on the surface and burst open..

There wasn't much of an impact, so everyone just stood there blankly without any reaction..

"....... "

Because I wasn't sure if this would be successful..

At that time, a one-line system message appeared before my eyes..

- ‘You have destroyed the ‘World Stone (Wave)’!

The moment they saw it, they made eye contact—

"done! it's okay! we did it!”

"Wow—!”

15The search team cheered in unison..

They achieved a feat that has only been accomplished once in history..

It must have been an indescribable sense of accomplishment..

Lee Hyun-wook also smiled, and his smile contained a different kind of pleasure..

‘Not only was it a great achievement, but you also achieved 55 billion won and hero grade items..’

Lee Hyun-wook also knew that there was a ‘prize prize’ in this 4th wave..

‘By now, Kang Seo-yoon is probably causing a stir. They're probably roasting the Guardian kids.…….'

So the same amount was taken in the previous life, but only one was removed..

It was not a problem that could be solved with compensation..

‘But this time, I'll eat it all.’

Of course, since 40 members of the Steel Company did it together, some portion had to be distributed..

However, as Lee Hyun-wook's performance was overwhelming, a large portion of his share was expected to be returned to him..

‘Roll half as assets, and invest the other half in withdrawal-type guilds.’

Lee Hyun-wook planned to raise Park Cheol-soo's and develop it into his own organization..

At that time, a gust of wind began to blow from somewhere..

Whoa whoa――

This was because the gate began to close, causing a change in air pressure in this tunnel..

The gate, the purple shimmer crumpled like paper, and soon coalesced into one dot..

‘……It's finally coming out.’

Lee Hyun-wook looked at that place..

As soon as the wave closed, something huge took shape..

It fell straight in the direction of gravity.,

T-billion—!

It hit the concrete and made a loud noise..

Those who were excited at the unexpected appearance took a step back in surprise..

Park Jun-mo lifted the lantern and illuminated the object..

“What the hell is that......."

Everyone looked at the object closely..

"Looks like a sword, doesn't it??”

"uh… … It looks like a sword, but can you call it a sword??”

However, it was not normal like their reaction..

"It's too big to be called a sword.”

As the saying goes, the sword was misshapen..

To be considered a weapon held and wielded by a person, it was larger than a person..

At first glance, the length of the sword body seemed to be over 2m.,

The width was also larger than the torso of an adult male..

A huge sword, dark black from the hilt to the tip.…….

When everyone was on guard for the strange object, Lee Hyun-wook approached the sword..

And then I reached out and grabbed the sack..

- You have obtained Mowglei.

‘A long time.’

[Item information]

- Name: Mowglai (Hero))

- effect

1) Mass Liberation (1~5): Releases sealed ‘mass’ and grants ‘strong bone’ to the user..

2) Shockwave: Generates a powerful shock wave. This destructive power is proportional to mass release number 1..

"I… … Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, are you able to hold and swing that thing??”

Mintae Ahn asked.

Yes, at first glance, it seemed to weigh more than a few dozen kilograms. It was a shape that was absolutely not suitable for holding and swinging a weapon, and even for a high-level barbarian player, it was difficult to use..

'So Red Berserker was a monster.’

Red Berserker, a warrior-type villain who freely wielded these crazy weapons.……

This guy once destroyed a large 8-story shopping mall just by swinging this, without any special skills..

It was truly an enormous destructive force.…….

Honestly, it was much more powerful when used by Lee Hyun-wook, who defeated the guy and became the second owner..

because…….

"You don’t have to hold it and swing it..”

Lee Hyun-wook took his hand off the handle of Moglei..

Then I took a step back and slowly lifted only the fingers of my left hand..

OK.......

Damn it--

It broke through the concrete and slowly rose into the air..

That huge body stood tall in the air..

‘55kg.......'

Even though the mass was sealed and the mass was reduced as much as possible, it still weighed a whopping 55 kg..

Like this, the reason why Lee Hyun-wook was able to use this better than anyone else was simple..

This is because even if the enormous mass could not be handled with muscle strength, it could be controlled freely..

And it's freer, more effective, and more powerful than swinging it by hand..

‘Currently, it can only be used at level 1 weight, but when mass is released in the future, it will become much more powerful..’

One of Mowglai's skills, 'Mass Liberation'’

It is divided into a total of 5 stages, and Lee Hyun-wook in his previous life was liberated up to stage 3..

At that time, Mogley weighed as much as 2 tons..

Lee Hyun-wook dropped the 2-ton greatsword from thousands of feet in the air.,

With all metal control at the end,

It was rammed into the head of a black dragon flying over Suwon.—

I remembered that historic moment.

"......Things will get easier."