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The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 57

57fury. 

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

Hyunwook Lee was in the command vehicle and faced the approaching hell from the front..

The 'black fog' flowing from Mt. Cheongryong was engulfing the downtown area..

"Well, that's really all... … It's a bug?”

Kim Se-hee asked from the backseat..

"Yes, it looks that way..”

"Oh, crazy……."

A swarm of insects that swarm around and devour whatever they find, like a locust swarm that sweeps through crops... … However, the problem was that what they were devouring was not the crops, but the ‘city’ itself..

‘That's why it's called by the nickname "Hootae".’

Today is their spectacular first appearance..

Why—ae—ae—ae—ang—!

As I moved forward, the disgusting sound of wings getting louder and louder, making my head pound.,

The upper floors of the buildings they passed by disappeared as if melting..

They were gnawing with their jaws, but they were so fast that it almost looked like they were melting..

“Me, crazy……"

The driver muttered and groaned..

It was a natural reaction.

It was never easy to step on the accelerator toward that direction..

Why—ae—ae—ae—ang—!

As the distance narrowed and the disgusting sound grew louder, everyone in the car let out a faint groan..

What if the things we've faced so far were monsters that could be defeated somehow?,

It felt like some kind of disaster that I couldn't deal with, so my courage was bound to fade.…….

However, Lee Hyun-wook remained calm as always..

‘Although it appears to be the most heinous on the outside, the law of destruction is very clear..’

That was the reason Lee Hyun-wook placed it last among the four erosion factors..

Iron-armored beetles are a group of insects with metal skin that fly around in a tangle, maintaining a very close distance from each other. Thus forming one great steel storm, that was their weapon..

‘But what happens if something like lightning strikes in the middle of that tight formation??’

Their hard shells—metals are naturally one of the strongest conductors,

Inside, it's just a living thing made of blood and flesh..

To put it simply, it had the characteristics that made it perfect for getting electrocuted..

'……A very interesting scene will occur..’

Hyunwook Lee lifted up the Mana Messenger..

"Park Jun-mo, are you ready??”

- Chick—Ready!

Now, the ‘lightning’ is ready.

Lee Hyun-wook's eyes landed on the leading armored search vehicle..

A loop on the ceiling, where a machine gun or something like that should have been mounted.,

Now there was something very special sitting there..

‘Raijin's Mace, I'm looking forward to it..’

Raijin's Mace, an artisan-grade support weapon made from hero-grade items,

Its 'spear tip' was pointed towards the sky ahead..

"—launch!”

The moment Lee Hyun-wook's order is given,

Raijin's mace began to emit a blue light..

Chi-i-i-ing—!

Spear named Indra's Blessing,

A huge amount of electric current spewed out from the tip..

They were shaking as if they were going to bounce in all directions at any moment.,

It was pulled by some powerful force and condensed into a single point..

Thus, a huge electric sphere like a blue thread was born..

At that moment, Park Jun-mo pulled the trigger..

T-huh————!

In an instant, the world turned blue.

The electric sphere shot out like a cannonball and hit the center of the black wave-like wave..

Pa-ja-ja-ja-ja-ja——!

The electric sphere transformed into a bundle of currents that stretched out like a spider's web, and the metal body of the armored beetle crossed over the conductive mass, reaching hundreds of meters away—in an instant, it enveloped the entire horde..

But it was just the beginning.

"Park Jun-mo, show off your skills. ”

At Lee Hyun-wook's command, Park Jun-mo stretched out his hands towards that place and began to spread them wide..

Pa-ja-ja-ja-ja-ja——!

Then, the electric current mixed with the swarm of insects followed his gestures and spread to a larger area..

It was a mysterious and daunting scene, like ‘volcanic lightning’ where lightning strikes within volcanic ash..

“and……"

The ironclad insects, whose nervous systems were paralyzed by the electric shock, fell towards the ground..

"—move fast!”

Meanwhile, the Steel Company procession stopped and the entire force gathered on the road..

Hyunwook Lee also got out of the car, looked at the situation, and lifted up the Mana Messenger again..

"Now! Pour out all your lightning magic!”

At his command, all wizards fired the 'electric magic' they had prepared in advance..

T-that-that-that-that-jeong——!

Although it is nothing compared to the Raijin's mace, dozens of lightning magic shots were fired at the same time and made a loud noise..

Subsequently, various lightning effect items obtained from the government arsenal were mobilized..

The beasts fired arrows enchanted with electric properties.,

Wizards sent consumable items such as ‘electric shock bombs’ flying with wind magic.,

Captain Go Jin-han, as a gunner of magic bullets, fired 'blitz bullets' at random..

And Lee Hyun-wook also sent ‘Unsa Amsu’..

Whoosh——

The moment it is located in the middle of a swarm of ironclad insects—

'electric discharge—!’

The skill of the Unsa male and female, whose potential was unleashed, exploded with electricity and electrocuted dozens of animals at once..

Pa-ja-ja-ja-ja-ja——!

As a result, more than half of the ironclad insects stopped flapping their wings and fell in vain as they were swept away by the current storm..

t—the—the—the—the—the—

The sound of the metal pieces falling to the floor resonated loudly..

This was truly an enormous, wide-area blitz attack that could never have occurred on the scale of a single company..

"this… … It's not a joke……."

Lee Hyun-wook was also surprised and muttered that..

Honestly, until yesterday, I had no intention of having a head-on confrontation like this during this ‘last event’..

Actually, it was crazy to face them head on. Because the moment you are swept away, you will be completely annihilated.…….'

So, I just planned to wait until the 'reinforcements' from all over Seoul arrived..

But as you can see, we succeeded in pushing them out with this firepower..

‘The government arsenal and Park Jun-mo's awakening, these two things turned it on.’

It was possible thanks to those two favorable factors..

The group of ironclad insects eventually disbanded and began to disperse in all directions..

"uh! They're leaving!”

"Okay, it's done.!”

A huge number of defeated soldiers had fallen on the asphalt, trembling and squeaking - making disgusting noises. The gunners, led by a tanker, approached cautiously and shot them down one by one..

Meanwhile, a bus believed to be carrying civilians entered the ranks of the Steel Company..

"It's okay now! We'll protect you!”

That's how it ended.

'But it's still too early to let down your guard.’

As the iron armored insect's weaknesses were clear, its strengths were also clear..

'The number is greater than that of Helet. And it is replenished quickly.’

He continued to look towards Cheongryongsan Mountain..

Even now, countless bugs were pouring out of that gate..

"Ahn Min-tae, that's enough. Take care of the civilians and prepare to retreat. They will come back.”

"Yes, I understand.”

As Lee Hyun-wook said, the scattered swarms of insects began to gather again in the distance..

It was still an enormous number, and if seen from a little further away, it would have looked like a dark cloud..

Lee Hyun-wook thought that this moment was more dangerous..

‘Come back soon. and… … If it becomes a war of attrition, we are at a disadvantage. You have to leave within 10 minutes.’

He looked at Park Jun-mo..

"eww......."

He tried to control the electric current by drinking 'mana recovery potion', but he must have overexerted it and was even bleeding from the nose..

Not only Park Jun-mo, but also almost all the lightning weapons that had just been used were in 'cool time'..

In other words, if we were to fight again now, we wouldn't be able to win..

"That swarm of bugs has unlimited refills! If you don't want to get eaten, get ready to move as quickly as possible.!”

Ahn Min-tae shouted loudly and urged him to move quickly..

But then…….

“—uh? Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, look over there.!”

Choi Taeyong shouted and pointed somewhere..

“Those swarms of bugs are already... … It seems to be coming back!”

"—what?”

Lee Hyun-wook couldn't help but be embarrassed by those words..

I turned my head and looked towards Cheongryongsan Mountain..

"shit……."

Indeed, a line of black shimmers spread out from that area and flowed in this direction..

A number that was at least two times greater than what was captured in the previous battle was flying at an incredible speed..

It was a number that could not be dealt with at this time, when the firepower had already been unleashed once..

‘It's much faster than you think. Why on earth…….'

Since ironclad insects also live in groups, it was natural for them to take group action when their species was attacked..

But something is wrong with this.

No matter how much a monster ignores the laws of nature, there is bound to be some degree of 'process'..

For example, surviving individuals return to the nest and signal that they have been attacked. …….

‘There is clearly such a mechanism in monster behavior..’

However, it was impossible for the 'nest' to react just a few minutes after the battle began..

then…….

'also… … There is Chugyoyong near here..’

In other words, Lee Hyun-wook noticed that a special case of controlling monsters was involved, like the 'Devil's Alarm'..

He turned and shouted to the entire company..

"I'm looking for a building with an underground parking lot nearby right now.!”

"yes!”

"no! No need for a parking lot! Even if you abandon all your vehicles, find a place to hide.!”

Lee Hyun-wook corrected the order..

I had to boldly take the loss..

If I acted complacently, I would be killed..

‘I let my guard down…….'

I was planning to hit and run quickly to save the bus with civilians on it..

‘But I never thought they would take such quick and extreme action.…….'

Should we have turned a blind eye to the sacrifices of civilians?…….

Lee Hyun-wook even had that thought for a moment..

'No, if Park Jun-mo and I use all our strength, we can somehow beat him..’

I have faced this crisis many times in my past life..

This life was going smoothly, but it didn't make sense to not go through a crisis..

Several cases crossed in his mind.,

I soon decided that it was possible..

But then, a blue light fell on his face..

yes—

He turned his head to follow the source of the light..

"huh?"

At that moment, a thick beam of light fell from the sky..

T-uh-uh-uh——!

That was a teleportation.

Everyone who was moving around stopped as if surprised and slowly took a step back..

Soon, several figures began to emerge from within the beam of light..

Jeopuk- Jeobuk—

Soon, the leader's face was revealed..

‘General Choi Jeong-cheol?’

Archmage Choi Jeong-cheol, he was standing holding a large metal staff.

And after that, AMT's elites such as Kim Kang-seok, Seo Eun-ha, and Choi Young-jun were seen..

"Oh, come to think of it........"

We decided to join them in finding the cause of erosion first, and were sharing coordinates in real time..

However, when he heard that a large-scale battle was taking place here, he seemed to immediately use teleportation..

'It would consume a lot of mana, but I never thought I would use it so boldly... … Anyway, perfect timing..’

General Choi Jeong-cheol looked at Lee Hyun-wook and smiled..

“……The Steel Company led us to our final moments..”

Lee Hyun-wook saluted him..

He nodded, lifted his cane and tilted it forward..

It was referring to the area near ‘Cheongryong Mountain’ where swarms of ironclad poisonous insects are rising..

"Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, is there a cause of erosion on the small hill hidden by that building over there??”

“Yes, everything seems clear at this point.”

"hmm… … Looks like he's going crazy with the extra events, I need to calm him down a bit..”

Choi Jeong-cheol turned his head and looked at Kim Kang-seok..

“1Battalion chief, it can get a little hot, tell the kids to stay out of the way..”

Hearing his words, Kim Kang-seok turned his head and shouted..

"All troops take cover! Beware of Heat Storms—!”

His voice was as loud as his size..

Following the order, all troops took cover in alleys and trucks..

And Choi Jeong-cheol began to move forward alone..

Jeopuk- Jeobuk—

The brigade commander walked alone towards the horde of monsters, but no one followed..

It wasn't because I was afraid of the monster, but because I was worried about being caught up in his skills..

Of course, among these, the only ones who saw his magic in person were Kim Kang-seok and Lee Hyun-wook from his previous life..

However, Choi Jeong-cheol's one shot was so famous that even if you had no experience, your body would react automatically..

Why—ae—ae—ae—ang——!

Before I knew it, the sound of the flapping wings of the ironclad insect was getting closer..

But somehow, it felt smaller than before..

Little Giant Choi Jeong-cheol, he glared at them and raised his staff..

At that moment, a red-hot ray of light shot up from the tip of the wand..

Ji—ing——

The ray of light stopped high in the sky,

Energy was concentrated at that point, and a small fireball was formed..

And in an instant, the small fireball began to grow to an enormous size..

Go-oh-oh-oh-oh——

The temperature in that space changed suddenly, a convection current occurred, and a gust of wind blew through the area..

‘That can't be right.......'

It grew to a size of over 50 meters in the blink of an eye..

A huge ball of flame burning overhead... … Even if it was a small sun, it was believable.

"Ugh—"

Even though I was hundreds of meters below, my face felt hot..

'Of course, it's Semi Armageddon, it's about burning all your mana and giving it a good blow.!"

Choi Jeong-cheol tilted the destructive sphere towards Cheongryong Mountain..

Qua—and—and—and—and—and——!

The massive fireball began to move in a curved line, as if it were a satellite of the Earth..

And all the ironclad insects that fell in its path turned into a pile of ashes and disappeared..

Qua—and—and—and—and—and——!

erase it It was a scene so destructive that it would not be an exaggeration to describe it..

And even if it didn't touch it directly, it couldn't overcome the enormous heat and scattered in all directions..

The horde of monsters that only seemed threatening was neutralized like a swarm of mayflies..

“and……."

General Choi Jeong-cheol's extensive fire magic puts the previous performance of the Steel Company to shame... … Before that, everyone could not keep their mouths shut. Even Lee Hyun-wook, who knew his skills well, was surprised once again..

'Even at this time, the Archmage's firepower was beyond imagination.…….'

Of course, a few years later, Choi Jeong-cheol's blows, which had grown even more, were still noticeable..

‘It was that man who first distorted the necromancer's always expressionless face..’

In this way, Choi Jeong-cheol was a one-shot power that went all-in on ‘range’ and ‘destructive power’—the power of a tactical weapon..

So it wasn't very suitable for all other situations, but it was the best when it came to wiping out large numbers like this..

‘And originally, it shouldn't be a good match.…….'

Normally, fire has difficulty inflicting effective damage on metal..

Lee Hyun-wook knew that best..

Many fire-type players fell without being able to pierce his steel..

Therefore, fire magic had to be avoided when hunting ironclad poisonous insects..

But in the end, smelting metal involves fire that is powerful enough to melt everything.—

That was the flame magic that Choi Jeong-cheol used..

Suddenly, like the setting sun, the world became dark as Semi Armageddon disappeared behind a tall building..

There was Cheongryong Mountain right nearby.…….

Kwa——ah——ang——ah——!

The entire mountain was blown away with an explosion..

Ku—gu—gu—gu—gu——!

A fever mixed with sand has blown all the way here..

"Ugh!"

Lee Hyun-wook stopped the craze by driving it into the ground in Mogulay..

But at that moment, Lee Hyun-wook realized one thing..

'Even though it was hit to this extent, the erosion factor did not disappear..’

The system message notifying the end of the wave did not appear..

That means it's not over yet..

Perhaps a swarm of ironclad insects protected themselves from the erosion by surrounding themselves with their bodies, like a swarm of bees..

And Choi Jeong-cheol's strike has a huge 'cooldown', so he won't be able to use it for a while..

‘So, in the end, it's time to start again..’

Before I knew it, Choi Jeong-cheol was looking back at Lee Hyun-wook..

"Well, now you have time to make something up, right??”

***

Seoul Erosion Response Headquarters, it was busier than ever now..

3This is because news of the attack on the third erosion factor was heard and an ‘additional event’ began after that..

and…….

"Director! It is said that the final cause of erosion has been discovered!”

Just recently, news arrived from General Choi Jeong-cheol, commander of the 3rd Port Horse Brigade, that the last cause of erosion had been discovered..

At those words, Kang Seo-yoon stood up and slowly took a breath..

"It's finally here... … yes Where is the location??”

"It is called Cheongryongsan Mountain in Gwanak-gu.!”

"great! Now it's really the last moment!”

She walked to the terrace and raised her voice, looking down at all the staff at headquarters..

"Tell all the players you can reach to come together and join forces to save Seoul.!”

They began contacting all players within the wave zone..

The location of the last source of erosion has been revealed.

Now if only I could concentrate enough power.......

‘We really protect Seoul…….'

Thus, achieving the unprecedented feat of conquering a wave was not an impossible task..

Kang Seo-yoon sat down, feeling her heart pounding..

"after......."

Then, suddenly, I turned my head and looked somewhere..

Woo Seong-moon, head of the National Gate Response Strategy Office, was sitting there..

‘For the past two days, he's been sitting idle and now he's really, really struggling.?’

Such an inconsistent appearance, in her eyes, she could only say no..

‘Now that I think about it... … I need to find out the real reason..’

She walked up to him, crossed her arms, and looked down at Woo Seong-mun..

"Director Woo, please tell me more now..”

“……yes? What do you mean??”

Woo Seong-moon asked with a puzzled expression at the question that came out of nowhere..

"Do you think Director Woo is the only one with information? I also have ears and eyes in all directions..”

“……yes?”

“You came here right after analyzing the wave zone with A-grade analyst players..”

Analyst players have the ability to ‘interpret’ various information in the game..

In other words, given enough time, it would be possible for a team of top-level analyst players to obtain information big or small about that wave..

And this time, it seemed like they had figured out something pretty big..

"At that time, you analyzed the wave zone and saw some information. So, we boldly opened up Armory No. 2 and distributed everything. therefore… … I was asking for such sweet information that I completely forgot about any thoughts of preparing after the erosion, no.?”

"......."

"If the people in there sacrifice their lives to capture the wave, it's not like they're trying to steal the reward and hide it in secret.?”

When Kang Seo-yoon opened her eyes and attacked Woo Seong-moon, he smiled and waved his hand..

"Haha—no need to worry. Because that's something you can never hide..”

"Why can't I hide it??”

"That's it... … Because it's going to be huge, huge..”

Woo Seong-moon eventually began to reveal the information he knew..

“CEO Kang, isn’t the event called Wave a kind of large-scale regional quest??”

"Yeah, well… … You can see it that way, right? I don't know because I've never woken up until now.……."

"you're right. Then if you break it……."

At those words, Kang Seo-yoon clapped her hands with an expression of understanding..

“……There will be great rewards. ah! No way, I found out what the reward is.?”

Woo Seong-moon nodded and Kang Seo-yoon’s eyes lit up..

I couldn't even imagine how great the reward would be if I conquered something as big as a wave..

Even local quests that take place in a much narrower area can sometimes yield 'Heroic' level items..

A thought occurred to her and she swallowed hard..

"Come on, no way! Myth level... … that's right?”

There was a good chance that an item that had never been released before would come out..

But Woo Seong-moon shook his head..

“Well, not really. And maybe it's worth more than that.”

“……yes? No, what is more valuable than mythic rank??”

"CEO Kang, what do you think is the most valuable among the items and objects that have appeared so far??”

Kang Seo-yoon thought about that question for a moment, then slowly raised her head and looked at Woo Seong-moon..

"World tree... … What are you saying??"

A sacred tree in the heart of Africa, the Republic of Chad…….

It had a greater impact than any item, object, or ability that has appeared so far..

Without the World Tree, responding to the Gate would have been much more difficult..

"Yes, when I conquered the world capital's most difficult type of gate called the 'Blue Gate', a sprout sprouted in its place. But if you attack a much more difficult wave... … It looks like some object will be created in the sky above Seoul..”

"What the heck... … What is it?”

Woo Seong-moon leaned back on his chair with his fingers crossed..

Then he looked into space and slowly opened his mouth..

"Laputa, the city of magic engineering... … As a result of the analysis, it came out like this.”

The legendary island floating in the sky was scheduled to appear over Seoul..

Kang Seo-yoon could not have predicted what it would be or what kind of impact it would have..

At that time, Woo Seong-moon raised his index finger..

"But, there's a problem..”

“……yes?”

"The proof that allows you to enter the deepest part of the World Tree, its core, where did that come from??”

The World Tree is currently within the territory of the Republic of Chad, but the Republic of Chad has a monopoly on the various by-products obtained from the World Tree..

Everything else was a right reserved for only one player, the 'Manager of the World Tree'..

"That's it... … Of course, I got it in the dungeon, inside the Blue Gate. The World Tree itself was a reward for conquering the Blue Gate and a 'token' of administrator authority, or in any case, it was an item that could be obtained in a dungeon, probably.?”

"Yes, then wouldn't someone in that wave zone have some special rights regarding Laputa??”

That made sense..

Kang Seo-yoon smiled and nodded..

“therefore… … Someone in there is going to win a lottery like no other in history..”