The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 56
56fury.
===========================
Government Armory No. 2, a top-secret area, had a steel company in it..
It was a 3,700 square meter space, five times larger than the battalion weapons depot, and the ceiling height seemed to be over 10m..
‘……What can I say, it’s like a super large warehouse store in North America..’
But there wasn't a single hole in that space. There were no doors, windows or even vents..
All walls were thick concrete walls with magic shields.,
It was truly a perfect compartment, with internal air circulation achieved through magic..
"Really, I… … You can use something like this?”
Kim Se-hee raised two daggers and asked..
At first glance, it looked much more luxurious than the weapons used before..
A blue blade about 30cm long flashed as it stretched out in a curved line.,
It felt like the flesh would fall off at the slightest touch..
Both of those items were ‘player manufactured items’ of the ‘skilled’ level..
Normal Items are Common—Rare—Heroic—Legendary—Mythic, Tier 5.,
Manufacturing items are at level 5: Normal - Advanced - Skilled - Artisan - Master.,
If we were to make a direct comparison like this, it was at the same level as a 'Hero' grade item..
‘But it cannot be the same as the hero level in all aspects..’
Rather, the price could have been similar to or lower than the 'rare' grade..
This is because player-manufactured items do not have ‘skills’ attached to them..
Of course, there are ways to infuse skills into manufactured items, but it was uneconomical in many ways, requiring a high-level blacksmith and a high-level wizard to work together for over half a year from the design stage..
Even so, the value was several hundred million won each, so it was not something that an AMT soldier could hold..
"Hmm, it feels like I'm borrowing someone else's luxury bag and going hiking.……."
Kim Se-hee still looked burdened by using such an expensive weapon..
“Sergeant Kim, why are you so hesitant??”
Kim Se-hee's face scrunched up at Lee Hyun-wook's words..
"What doesn't suit you? Then I think it would look good if you smiled greedily.?”
"Well, it's best to turn around and smile secretly..”
"But you have to return it anyway, so don’t drink too much kimchi soup..”
“Ah, yes—”
Lee Hyun-wook turned his head and looked inside the armory..
Steel Company members were scattered here and there, gathering items..
"—There's a bunch of high-grade shields here, so tanks, grab one.!”
"Wow look at this……."
"Wow, the day will come when I will try using adamant plated arrowheads.……."
The entire Steel Company was being armed with powerful items they had never seen before..
Therefore, he seemed to forget that there was a battle ahead and was in the mood for shopping..
Of course, once this situation was over, all those items had to be returned..
‘and… … You will receive a reward beyond this item..’
When the wave ended, the price of everyone in the Steel Company would skyrocket..
Lee Hyun-wook wandered a little further inside, where rings and bracelets were stored..
And I picked up a few ring items made of orihalcon..
gulp—
Well, of course… … I didn't take it in my pocket..
‘Honestly, this is part of the price of saving Seoul..’
He rationalized it inwardly and looked for the next object to swallow..
‘Uh, this is…….'
What he was interested in was a ring..
[Item information]
- Name: Little Flash (Rare)
- Effect: When mana is injected, a current is released. (Cooldown: 5 minutes)
A ring made of adamant had something like a blue gem embedded in it..
‘It is a thousand iron..’
It was a magic metal with the ability to produce electric current..
This is also a special material as expensive as orihalcon, and although it is slightly less versatile, it is much rarer..
‘Yeah, this also gave me some pretty useful abilities..’
gulp—
- caution! There are a number of ‘metals’ that are already being absorbed. Absorption delay is greatly increased.
‘Not only did the Dwarven Great Mountain Engine's absorption time appear as 'unknown', but I also swallowed the orihalcon obtained by killing a zombie trout nearby. My stomach was literally saturated..
'However, if you use the furnace properly, you can quickly extinguish them one by one..’
Digestion of metals occurs simultaneously rather than in the order in which they are swallowed..
So things that took less time were picked up first..
At that time, someone approached Lee Hyun-wook..
"Hey, Steel Company commander.?”
The managers residing in Armory No. 2 here were government agents..
‘I'm sure you didn't see it.?’
Lee Hyun-wook was not embarrassed, but naturally folded his arms and nodded..
“……yes?”
"If you don't mind, I'd like to give you some advice..”
"Oh, please speak.”
Judging by the fact that he didn't look particularly suspicious, it didn't seem like he had seen Lee Hyun-wook's antics..
"that… … Soldiers are now equipped with new items, but if possible, please avoid items with skills. Isn't there a high possibility of an accident occurring if you use unfamiliar skills carelessly? It is especially dangerous when a large number of troops are concentrated..”
“Yes, I understand what you mean. thank you.”
When multiple troops move as one, individual skills could actually become a hindrance..
Lee Hyun-wook was also aware of this, and had warned him not to carelessly choose weapons with skills..
"Oh, and I have something for you. Jumungwan Park, please bring that..”
At the manager's words, one of his subordinates came carrying a very long steel case..
Clap—
Inside was a long glass tube, and inside the glass tube was a tree branch..
"Let's touch it. It's special glass with a magic coating, so you don't have to worry about it breaking..”
Lee Hyun-wook lifted the entire steel gauge with his metal control and placed his hand on it..
- ‘Obtained ‘Leaves of the World Tree (Special)’.
[Item information]
- Name: Leaves of the World Tree (special)
- effect
1. When a dark type monster approaches, it emits a sacred light. (continue)
2. 500m Gives a ‘sanctuary’ effect to the surrounding area. (continue)
‘This…….'
Honestly, I couldn't help but be surprised..
"This… … It's a World Tree item from Chad.?”
“Yes, that's right. This is a very special item and there are only 15 of them in Korea.."
"The most expensive specialty product in the world, sold in the Republic of Chad for 400 billion won per piece......."
"Haha, that's right. This alone generates 20 trillion won a year..”
This game made the world hell.
But some lands were actually blessed..
The Republic of Chad was a representative land that benefited from this..
3A year ago, the ‘World Tree’, the tree of God, was born in Lake Chad, right in the center of the African continent..
‘As a result, Chad, the poorest country in Africa, became the most important place on earth..’
Based on the infinite vitality emitted by the World Tree, the desert was transformed into fertile forests and grasslands, and stable mana covered the area, and 'Magic Towers', research institutes for magicians, were erected in droves..
Based on all of its advantages, it is emerging as a center for the cutting-edge industry, 'magical engineering'..
"Commander, is there anything else you need??”
"Yes, just one more thing please.”
"You can say anything. These are the people who will save Seoul..”
"So, is there a weapon that can use lightning magic??”
"hmm… … There is one huge thing.”
As expected, it was the government's arsenal, and they came out one after another as they called..
Soon, two employees loaded something into a truck and dragged it away..
This time, a steel case, an incredibly large steel case, appeared..
"Now, this is a support weapon called ‘Rain God’s Mace’..”
It was something that looked like an anti-tank weapon, and it had a spear attached to what looked like a muzzle..
However, seeing as the window was firmly fixed, it did not seem to be a 'projectile' at least..
Lee Hyun-wook placed his hand on it..
[Item information]
- Name: Thunder God's Mace (craftsman))
- Effect: When mana is injected, powerful electricity is sprayed for 1 minute. (Cooldown: 10 minutes)
"This is an artisan-grade manufacturing item made by modifying a hero-grade spear called Indra's Blessing. How is it? It's a bit heavy, but you can mount it on a vehicle and use it as a kind of magic chariot..”
He spoke proudly and Hyunwook Lee also nodded..
"Yes, this is exactly the weapon you were looking for. thank you.”
In this way, the strength of the Steel Company has increased significantly in all aspects..
‘A great deal of luck followed just before the final battle..’
***
After completing all the work, Lee Hyun-wook passed through the portal and came out of the armory..
Then, the master bedroom of an ordinary home unfolded before my eyes..
No one would have thought that a single-family home like this would have a portal to a government armory..
And in the garden there, members of the Brigade Headquarters 2nd Strategy Platoon were gathered..
"Ah, company commander, let's go now.?”
Their commander, Captain Go Jin-han, asked.
Instead of ignoring him as a soldier, he called him by his title of company commander..
Perhaps it was thanks to Lee Hyun-wook's unintentional display of ability during their first encounter..
‘Great. I won't be tired from dealing with executives..’
If Hyun-wook Lee would just show up like that, I was planning to treat him like an executive all the time..
"Yes, I think we need to move. Can you please prepare it??”
"okay—”
"Oh, and do you mind if I lead this operation??”
Then Go Jinhan smiled and nodded..
“Well, we originally came here to support the Steel Company, and I also saw with my own eyes how amazing this company commander was, so I'm not really attracted to it... … That friend over there is a bit sensitive to that kind of thing..”
Sergeant Kim Dong-hoon, a large, muscular man, glanced in this direction..
“……yes? Are you saying that??”
"Didn't you say you had something to say to this company commander? Hahaha—”
"Oh, yes? No, wow really……."
Lee Hyun-wook looked at Kim Dong-hoon to see what kind of situation this was.,
For some reason, he turned his eyes to the floor and averted his gaze..
'what.......'
"......Well, anyway, I'll get ready to go.."
When Lee Hyun-wook went out the front door of the single-family home, Ko Jin-han quietly approached him..
"I'm sorry for asking this, but how can you be so mean when you say it's an F grade??”
“ah… … Earned a few achievements.”
“Oh, achievements? Well, I broke the erosion factor and even caught the Woldo boss monster.……."
It was still a common achievement lie, but now it was somewhat true..
[Achievements List]
1) Purifier)
- Condition: Destroy the object that declares the realm of death..
- Effect: Dark resistance formation (level 1), increase in total mana (+200), increase in divine power(+20%)
2) World Boss Monster Slayer
- Condition: Hunt the world boss monster.
- Effect: Increases all abilities(+5%)
After catching the chimera, two achievements became available..
That was also a very useful achievement, and all ability increases include 'metal control'..
- Current controllable ‘metal’ weight: 91,958g
* Transcendent Sense (+30%) is in effect.
* Strong Bone (+10%) is being applied.
* World Boss Monster Slayer (+5%) is being applied.
‘good… … Soon to reach 100kg.’
But Go Jin-han still seemed to have many questions..
"And the erosion factor, how do you find that? Didn't we fail to stop the wave until now because we couldn't find the cause of erosion? But I find it one day at a time, how can I do that??”
"It's simple. Just dig into a place with a lot of monsters..”
Go Jinhan tilted his head at those words..
"No, um… … Isn’t that one of the basics of gate search??”
If only that had been taken care of, the response to the first to third waves would not have failed so miserably. The wave zone is always open in a wide urban area and is accompanied by countless gates..
In other words, the possibility of making a fuss while chasing the gate was too high. It was an inefficient method.
Lee Hyun-wook added a few things to this..
"Rather than just chasing monsters, you need to track event elements. It was a multi-ethnic warlock, and instead of killing people, they kidnapped them all. It meant that something special was planned..”
“ah……."
That was quite plausible, so I nodded, but Go Jin-han still didn't have a cool expression on his face..
Honestly, at this point, I've reached the limit of talking around..
"And actually… … I was lucky in many ways.”
In times like this, I have no choice but to call it luck.…….
"hmm? Then I guess I'll just have to check out all of Seoul and hope I keep getting lucky.?”
"I guess so..”
"Haha, this is it……."
But it wasn't necessary.
‘Anyang duo will soon attack the third erosion factor..’
Thus, an 'additional event' occurs, and 'ironclad poisonous insects' emerge from Mt. Cheongryong..
Anyone who looked would know that it was a source of erosion, so there was no need to search any further..
‘The time has come for the sky to change……."
Lee Hyun-wook checked his watch and looked up at the sky..
There have been no signs yet..
Grande: Five minutes had passed since then, and the signal soldiers started to get busy..
Lee Hyun-wook noticed that strange feeling and,
Soon, the communications squad leader came running towards Lee Hyun-wook in a huff..
“Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook—!”
"......huh?"
“It is said that a third erosion factor has been discovered in Yeonsinnae and has just been attacked.!”
At those words, everyone except Lee Hyun-wook was shocked and cheered..
"and! There are people other than us who are fighting properly.!”
"I've been thinking about finding two more, but this is awesome..”
"under… … I really think we can save Seoul..”
But that wasn't a good sign.
'……It begins.’
He slowly raised his head.
That moment…….
Goo-ooh-ooh-ooh——!
A roar as if the sky was collapsing began to fill the world..
"uh! what?”
This roar was a kind of 'bell'.
to get people's attention…….
In other words, what message are you trying to convey?,
In other words, it was a precursor to the entire announcement..
Everyone looked up at the purple-toned sky.
There, a letter appeared.
- caution! Players are given a because of their amazing achievements.!
As expected, that was the message..
"shit!”
Go Jin-han also sensed the meaning and spat out a curse..
“I guess something shit is going to happen.……."
Soon, the specific details of the incident came to mind..
- caution! The last remaining erosion factor ‘changes’ rapidly to the ‘final’ stage.!
"Final stage, what does that mean? Company Commander, I have a feeling.?”
"I also feel like something shit is going to happen..”
"Oh, I wasn't wrong.?”
Lee Hyun-wook immediately had the signalman connect mana communication to Kim Kang-seok..
“……Battalion Commander, from now on, I think we just need to find the point where monsters increase explosively..”
- Yeah, that's what I was thinking too..
"and… … I think we need to gather all our troops in Seoul. Not just our AMT troops, but all of our guilds… … All players' forces must come together to properly uproot the roots..”
The final match has been held.
***
When a gate occurs, evacuate to a nearby shelter.!
That was the most important sentence that every citizen of the Republic of Korea knows..
Today, there is no place as safe as a 'shelter', where monsters may appear at any time..
It can withstand monster attacks for a long time through its excellent ‘magic shield’.,
Just wait a moment and the player's rescue team will arrive and eliminate all threats..
And South Korea was the country with the most shelters relative to population and equal area..
In other words, this land is the safest in the world. That was the belief of the people living in this land..
however…….
A shelter in this land was now collapsing miserably..
Immediately after the entire notice surfaced, a 'black fog' poured down from inside Cheongryongsan Mountain..
And it immediately swallowed up an elementary school shelter at the bottom of the mountain..
The moment it got close, I could tell the people in the shelter were there..
it wasn't black fog.
that.......
Why—ae—ae—ae—ang——!
……There were countless bugs, bugs the size of a human head..
Why—ae—ae—ae—ang——!
The disgusting sound of flapping wings filled the whole world..
In that sound, we couldn't even hear each other's voices..
Why—ae—ae—ae—ang——!
It started to stick to the window, and I could see its horrible appearance..
A head the size of a person's fist, bending this way and that at a right angle…….
A swarm of monster flies with sickle-like legs and saw-like teeth.…….
"Oh my god……."
They stuck and the magic shield broke through in just a few seconds..
And next thing you know, the entire school building started melting..
The concrete crumbles into powder and the rebar shrivels and disappears..
“……W, I have to get out of here.!”
someone shouted that.
People scattered and ran to different entrances..
But I couldn't escape the clutches of that horrible swarm of insects..
“Aaaah— buy, save— oops—”
A swarm of insects rushed out and dragged people up into the air..
"Go go go go——!”
Being torn to pieces as if being dragged around in the air by a rough current..
It didn't take long. As if melting away, not a single piece of flesh remained..
It was the moment when one person was divided into the stomachs of hundreds of bugs..
The lucky 44 people boarded the bus and set off through a swarm of bugs..
"—Hold on tight!”
And now, I was heading north along Gwanak-ro, that straight road..
“Damn, they got behind us.!”
But I couldn't escape the swarm of bugs..
Why—ae—ae—ae—ang——!
Every time I turned my head, the black clouds were slowly getting closer, engulfing the city center..
Why—ae—ae—ae—ang——!
The speed was fierce, as if the black smoke from the explosion was billowing between the buildings..
“shit-! Step faster!"
someone shouted that.
But the bus was already at full speed.
"it's over… … done……."
The people on the bus trembled with indescribable fear..
Couldn't do anything, couldn't expect anything.
“Sobbing—"
One by one, tears began to flow..
17Sal and Min Hye-yeon also hugged their younger sister and just cried..
There was nothing I could do except cry..
But then someone tapped her on the shoulder..
"......Hey, are you crying??”
She raised her head at the playful voice..
It was Lee Yun-taek, the older brother next door..
He had a grumpy expression as usual..
……I couldn't understand it at all.
“……what?”
"Why are you crying? It's okay, man!”
Since we have been neighbors since birth, I knew that you always had such an optimistic personality........
"Well, what are you doing! Oppa, I feel like playing around right now.?”
"It's okay, you... … I can buy it.”
Lee Yun-taek said with a bitter smile..
Then she stroked her brother's head and turned around..
Behind him, players were rising up..
They looked determined as if they had decided something..
"manager… … I have to go now.”
At Lee Yun-taek’s words, the bushy-bearded man nodded with a stern expression..
Then he went to the front of the bus and said to the driver:.
"Pastor, please let us down..”
Then people were shocked..
“Now what do you mean! No!”
“please don't do that!”
People were scared and tried to stop him, but the bearded man was stubborn..
"If you get caught like this, everything... … I die. Please stop quickly!”
"So you're the only ones going to die? never!”
"Give yourself some time and you'll be able to reach the next shelter..”
There was a moment of silence at those words..
They all knew it was the only way.
"There is no way. Please trust us.”
"It's not that I don't believe it, this is it now…… ”
That moment—
Tweet——!
The bus came to a sudden stop..
At the same time, the front door of the bus opened.
"—Pastor, what are you doing now?!”
People tried to stop them, but the players quickly jumped out..
"Thank you… … Thank you……."
The man called the pastor had his head buried in the steering wheel and muttered this over and over again..
“—Let's go! right now!”
The bus started to run again, leaving the seven people behind..
People turned their heads and looked at their backs.
They sent out fire magic and ice magic, which seemed to push away the black shimmer for a moment..
But it was only for a moment.
"Oh, no……."
"please—!”
Min Hye-sun turned her head without realizing it as people moaned, and what caught her eyes was…….
"ah……."
It was a scene where the seven people were lifted up into the sky and disappeared in a black shimmer..
"Don't look, don't look……."
She sobbed as she held her brother's head..
But unfortunately, their fierce sacrifice seemed in vain..
Why—ae—ae—ae—ang——!
The swarm of insects quickly began to catch up with the bus..
7sacrifice of people,
That momentary gain of time only bought me a few minutes of life..
"Wow, stupid... … You pretend to be cool……."
Min Hye-sun muttered like that in vain..
"It was a lie... … In the end, ooh, we all die too.”
For some reason, I even felt resentful..
It was then.
“……uh? What is that!”
It was the driver and the pastor who shouted that..
Pa— ang——!
A line of cars was rushing in front of the bus with a clang sound..
And some of them noticed the identity of the procession..
Because I heard that rumor well..
An AMT unit moves in a convoy of trucks, hunting monsters and destroying sources of erosion........
"steel company……."
They had arrived before the last factor of erosion..
And it was the moment when the sacrifices of the previous seven people were not in vain..
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