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The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 64

64fury. 

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The Steel Company that saved Seoul and their commander, Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook…….

Those two names were the most mentioned in the world at this moment..

The media has been churning out reports about the Steel Company all week.,

Celebrities also commented on their comments through their SNS.,

Naturally, it was consumed as the best story on the Internet..

Thus, a huge amount of rumors were being produced..

The Steel Company was actually a special unit secretly raised by the government.,

They are all S-ranks who were hiding their powers, but they had no choice but to reveal themselves.,

To make matters worse, there were even conspiracy theories going around that the 4th wave itself was a fabrication and that the Steel Company was also a fake..

However, since they did not appear directly in front of the camera, there was no way to confirm their identity.…….

"……That guy just said he was the Steel Company.?"

“Yes, didn't you say commander as well??”

All troops of the 2nd Platoon, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Port Horse Brigade located in Incheon were looking at Lee Hyun-wook's face..

"Wait a minute, if you are the steel company commander.……."

"Isn’t he Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, the hero who saved Seoul??”

They were skeptical at first, but…….

“……Oh, that's right. It was that face!”

Soon, people who recognized Lee Hyun-wook's face began to appear..

‘Hmm, I didn't expect you to already recognize my face.…….'

Lee Hyun-wook was extremely reluctant to be exposed, but even so, his identity had already spread widely..

Face, grade, affiliation, past history, etc.…….

Of course, in this day and age, it is nearly impossible to completely hide your identity..

I was already feeling tired, but there were benefits to being famous..

"Platoon leader, that person is Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook..”

"Yes, that's the same face I saw on the news this morning.”

Since I was able to understand the situation like this, there was no need for my mouth to hurt..

At the soldiers’ reaction, Lieutenant Lee Tae-gyeong’s face stiffened..

She checked Lee Hyun-wook’s name tag again..

‘Sergeant Lee Hyeon-wook of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Port Horse Brigade…….'

Yes, his identity matched perfectly with the savior of Seoul he knew..

Suddenly, the wariness disappeared from her face and a certain sense of awe began to appear..

They were unable to suppress even that small underground parking lot, so they requested assistance, but wasn't this man a hero who achieved his greatest achievements by working throughout the 4th wave?…….

"Ah, Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook… … how to get here……."

"Could I please take a quick look??”

"uh? Uh, yeah……."

AMT troops, including Lee Tae-kyung, retreated hesitantly..

“Excuse me, but can I borrow your weapon??”

At that moment, a soldier ran out, held out his long sword, and bowed his head..

"Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, if you use a long sword, would it be okay for me to use my weapon??”

He said that and even made an expression that said he was honored..

‘No, what is this?…….'

It was an absurd reaction, but at the same time, I felt like I could understand their feelings..

The most despised AMT soldier in the player world was being called a hero..

As a fellow soldier, I could not help but feel a special admiration..

"hmm… … no. This is all I need.”

As Lee Hyun-wook said that, he slightly raised both hands.,

The 'M9 (Enchanted)' bayonet, a basic supply, emerged from the soldier's waist..

“Let me borrow a few of these..”

Soon, a total of 17 bayonets rose into the sky from the waists of all platoon members..

yes——

Everyone raised their heads and stared blankly at the scene..

“and……."

“This is it……."

Actually, I couldn't say it was a very great scene..

In a world with magic where flames explode and ice walls rise, throwing a few bayonets into the air wouldn't be very powerful..

However, since I had heard several scary rumors that a man named Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook was driving the ‘Rain of Steel’, even this trivial scene could not help but feel very special..

Under their somewhat burdensome gaze, Kim Se-hee and Park Jun-mo came to Lee Hyun-wook's side..

"Hmm, I know they're looking at me like they're looking at a celebrity?”

“……I'm already tired.”

"So what are you going to do now??”

Even to Kim Se-hee, it didn't seem easy to enter the underground parking lot..

"Those vines are filling up the entrance, so if you approach, they will immediately grab you and drag you in.."

I saw a writhing movement in the darkness inside the underground parking lot..

If you got even a little closer, dozens of vines would rush out and entangle your limbs..

But Lee Hyun-wook shook his head..

“It's dangerous. So I'm not going to go into it right away..”

"yes? How do you do it without going in?……."

At that time, Lee Hyun-wook took something out of his pocket..

whiz—

It was the magic engineering item ‘Fly Eye’ developed by Kang Jeong-du..

Lee Hyun-wook closed his eyes and made a 'mana transfer' and 'mana connection' to it..

- '‘Cly Eye (Prototype)’ and ‘Mana Connection’ begin.

* Mana loss per second : 2

Then his vision focused on FlyEye's camera..

- ‘‘Synced’ with ‘Fly Eye (Prototype)’.

* The available actions are listed below:

1) night vision

2) self-destruct command

The magic circuits engraved inside that little mechanism—it was like I could read them..

no,

Rather than ‘understanding’ it by reading it, it seemed more appropriate to ‘gut it’ instinctively..

He was able to do it automatically, without any understanding, just like moving his limbs..

‘I'm still dizzy, but I think I'll get used to it..’

Hyunwook Lee moved the fly eye around. I felt like a little bee.

yes——

It flew quietly and quickly and entered the entrance to the underground parking lot..

It was dark inside, but I was able to see through the darkness without difficulty using Fly Eye's 'Night Vision'..

Kkudduddud——

Hell's grip, the red vines filled the space and writhed, making a strange sound like twisting a rubber glove..

What can I say, it was a bizarre scene, like looking into a jar full of snakes..

But fortunately, it didn't seem to react to the small, quiet movements of 'Fly Eye'..

‘Okay, let's go a little further in..’

Soon, I found a single point from which all those vines were spreading out..

Exciting — Exciting—

It was a heart-shaped piece of flesh..

‘That's the core of Hell's Grasp..’

It had roots like veins growing on the ‘pink moss’ scattered on the floor..

‘also… … Someone intentionally created an environment for Hell's Grasp to thrive.’

Who and why... … I didn't know the reason yet, but I was certain that if I destroyed that core, the entire bunch of vines would be neutralized..

‘Um, why not try the self-destruct function? hmm……’

But Lee Hyun-wook had no choice but to hesitate..

Currently, the value of ‘Fly Eye’ is quite high..

Quite precious flying stones, mithril alloy body, magic circuit engraved for operation, etc.…….

I thought it would probably be priced at hundreds of millions each..

‘Still, you should test it at least once. Problems may arise at important moments.…….'

So, the moment he got close to the core and gave the command to self-destruct—his vision returned to the main body, outside the underground parking lot..

and…….

Huh——huh——!

A blue light burst from the entrance to the underground parking lot, and the building shook..

“Uh, what is it?……."

"So, what happened??”

Behind them, the AMT troops murmured in confusion. They had no idea what kind of explosion it was..

But what was surprising was that Kim Se-hee and Park Jun-mo seemed to be the same..

"Is that what Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook just did? or not……."

"That's right, I've been testing some new technology..”

“ah……."

"The guy blocking the entrance is dead, so you can now enter..”

Anyway, it was a better destructive power than I expected..

It seemed like a magic circuit containing an explosion spell had been carved into it..

‘As expected, Kang Jeong-du, although he may not have dealt with magic engineering often, his skills are considerable..’

Lee Hyun-wook approached the entrance to the underground parking lot with 17 M9 bayonets in front of him..

"Oh, by the way, you two should wait in the back. For now, I will enter alone..”

"……yes? why?”

“Neither of them can cause damage to the ‘wood attribute’..”

Kim Se-hee is ‘wind’ and Park Jun-mo is ‘electricity’. Both of them were bad at trees..

To be honest, it was the same with 'Metal', but Lee Hyun-wook had the power to surpass his competition, so it was okay..

"No, it's still a bit awkward to go in alone.……."

Hyunwook Lee always did well on his own. Kim Se-hee knew that well too..

Especially the image of him throwing himself towards Cheongryongsan Mountain is truly amazing.……,

But since I just saw him faint, I couldn't help but be worried..

"are you okay. If anything happens, I'll give you a signal right away..”

"Still, it's not better for us to follow right behind.?”

Lee Hyun-wook shook his head..

"It's dark inside, and there are vines everywhere, so it can get into trouble in many ways..”

This means that it may be a hindrance rather than a help..

Sehee Kim puffed out her lips..

"Ah, yes—but a bayonet alone would be a bit much, so why not take some proper weapons with you??”

She held out a long sword she had brought from the workshop..

But Lee Hyun-wook shook his head again..

And then I opened my hands …….

Blah blah blah——

Metal began to sprout from his palms..

It twisted into a spiral, becoming longer and longer, and soon became one solid spear..

At first glance, it seemed like the body was producing steel..

"Oh no, what the hell… … What are you??”

Looking at such a magical scene, Kim Se-hee stuck out her tongue again..

In the case of Lee Hyun-wook, new skills are given every time he exceeds the 10kg, 100kg, and 1,000kg units..

And this was a skill I gained not long ago when my metal control exceeded 100 kg..

[Skill information]

- Name: Metal Creation

- Grade: D

- Effect: Consumes mana to 'generate' a certain amount of metal.

* The quality of the metal in question is proportional to the level of 'hardening'..

* Mana consumption varies depending on the amount of target the skill is applied to..

‘My current hardening strength will be stronger than that of a rare grade weapon..’

- Current steerable metal weight: 131,451g

***

Hyunwook Lee placed the 'Fly Eye' right in front of his forehead and advanced into the darkness based on its vision..

There were a lot of red vines scattered on the floor near the entrance, and it looked like the 'core' had just burst and dried up..

‘But it won't be just one..’

Looking at the huge amount of vines encroaching on the underground parking lot, I could guess that there were several more..

Sure enough, three red vines were crawling towards his ankles like snakes, and Lee Hyun-wook quickly fired four bayonets at them..

Deep—! Deep—! Deep—! deeply—!

The bayonet pierced the vines and stuck in the ground, restricting their movement..

But that wasn't all about the vines..

Okay——!

Five or six vines flew from the ceiling at the same time, instantly restraining Lee Wook's left and right arms..

“Pfft—!”

But Lee Hyun-wook was not easily taken away..

Because his entire body had already been strengthened, his physical strength had increased several times..

In that state, I put all the metal control in my arms and pulled it back..

"Okay, pretty bearable..’

quaddd——!

Rather, the vines that were clinging to the ceiling began to tear out, and while pulling the vines tautly, he controlled the M9 bayonet and cut off the middle part of the vine..

"after… … Now my physical strength is at a usable level.?”

With this level of strength, it was enough to compete with a B-grade warrior class..

Of course, if that branch uses ‘skills’ and attacks, the story will be different..

‘found.’

Soon the second ‘core’ was discovered..

He tried to 'create metal' with his left hand.

Blah blah blah——

Steel erupted from his palm and instantly turned into a sharp harpoon..

He threw it as if he were throwing a javelin, and although he threw it carelessly, the harpoon, which flew like a guided missile, hit the core exactly, and at that very moment.—

'—shredding!’

P——billion——!

With perfect skill linkage, the second ‘core’ was instantly shattered into pieces..

Next, the third Hell's Grasp was unusually hanging from the ceiling..

However, by eliminating the previous two, the number of vines was significantly reduced, so it was much easier to finish..

‘This is the end of the three..’

After confirming again that there were no dangerous elements, he spread out the Fly Eye and searched the parking lot..

Soon, they found the kidnapped people on the wall in one corner..

They were hanging tangled in red roots..

‘Fortunately, they are all still alive..’

He was poisoned by paralyzing poison, which slowed his blood circulation and lowered his body temperature, but he was not in critical condition..

‘However, this should not be ripped off carelessly. There must be a healer.’

Because root-like roots had penetrated all over the body and were entangled with the blood vessels, healing magic was needed to remove them at the same time..

Otherwise, excessive bleeding could be life-threatening..

But at that time, Lee Hyun-wook felt a sense of strangeness..

Movement—I felt the movement of metal..

‘also… … there is someone.’

It was expected, as I thought there was someone who planned this in the first place..

He turned his head, following the movement of the metal. The parking lot was deep, and there was an iron gate visible..

It was the entrance to the machine room..

Inside, a lot of metal was moving around busily..

Hyunwook Lee took out another fly eye and sent it flying that way..

But then…….

- ‘You can synchronize to ‘Mana Messenger (Intermediate)’.

'……what?’

A system message related to mana connection came to mind..

But out of nowhere, a mana messenger appeared.…….

I was just wondering what kind of mana messenger this meant..

‘ah! Could it be that the person inside is using a mana messenger??’

Come to think of it, Mana Messenger was also a magic engineering item..

'Connecting mana' to it... … I thought it might mean that ‘wiretapping’ could be done..

'……If that's true, it's a truly ridiculous ability..’

Communication using mana was slow and limited compared to communication using radio waves..

Therefore, it was rarely used unless the radio waves were disturbed..

But there was one overwhelming strength… … The point was that wiretapping was not easy..

'The person eavesdropping on mana communications is a high-ranking wizard... … No, you need a high-ranking wizard..’

That was only possible for wizard players who were the most specialized in ‘mana detection’ and ‘flow analysis’.,

It was a technique so difficult that even Major Taeho Moon, a regional magic control officer who specialized in that area, did not dare to attempt it..

'But if you can eavesdrop on it like hacking…….'

Lee Hyun-wook slowly approached that direction..

- ‘‘Mana Messenger (Intermediate)’ and ‘Mana Connection’ begin..

* Mana loss per second : 1

‘It's real.’

- ‘‘Synchronized’ with ‘Mana Messenger (Intermediate)’.

* The available actions are listed below:

1) communication connection

2) End of communication

And soon, I started hearing conversations..

- Yes, the grip of hell that was just placed at the entrance has been pierced. Still, they won't be able to find us because they've cast an 'optical illusion spell' here. Yes, the work is in final stages.

secret voice…….

This seemed to be the voice of a person in the machine room..

- Okay, this work is also being completed, so I will join you at the agreed upon location in 20 minutes..

This was someone's voice talking to him on the phone..

- Yes, have you heard what your current quest progress is??

- Don’t worry about that, the master will take care of it… … We just have to do what we're told to do well. Anyway, the ‘devil’ will be summoned to Seoul soon..

- sorry. I almost did something presumptuous. I will work hard to dig up the ‘fragments of disaster’.

As expected, the content of that phone call was extremely suspicious..

‘Anyway, it's a quest.…….'

As always, this ‘quest’ was not so easily granted..

That too on a group basis, if it is a group that is capable of plotting in Seoul at this moment........

'Are the villains moving faster than you think?…….'

If it wasn't already clear, he had a hunch that something had happened..

‘for now… … Need to make sure.’

Hyunwook Lee approached the machine room and stopped about 10 meters away..

Clap—

He used his metal control to open the door and put the fly eye inside..

whiz——

But there was no one in the machine room..

No, it was invisible..

Perhaps, as mentioned in the previous call, 'optical illusion magic' was functioning..

- ……It seems like someone is approaching. I'll get back to you.

He seemed to have noticed Lee Hyun-wook’s approach..

'It looks like they probably installed a monitoring device at the entrance to the machine room..’

Anyway, mana communication was cut off like that.…….

- ……It's close. Everyone, don't make a sound.

'……What is it, I keep hearing it?’

Surprisingly, even when I was not on a call, I could even hear voices around me through Mana Messenger's 'speaker'..

It was truly a perfect eavesdropping..

- ……Well, it's still one guy. How can I dispose of it quickly??

- No, it looks like there's a bunch of them gathered outside. If you touch them wrong, you'll be in trouble. Our number one goal is to be stealthy. but… … If you get too close, you might get caught, so deal with it quickly and hide the body inside..

- Yes, then I will prepare it..

That's right…….

Lee Hyun-wook took out an item..

[Item information]

- Name: Ring of Gyges (Hero)

- Effect: When infusing mana, you become invisible for 30 seconds..

This was obtained after attacking the last erosion factor..

Lee Hyun-wook trusted this item and decided to go a little further, walking slowly and entering the machine room..

It wasn't a very large space, but as expected, there was no one there..

'……Yes, it's inside the wall..’

5The movement of the dog's metal was being detected beyond the wall..

- The guy just came into the machine room. If you come closer, deal with it secretly..

Hyunwook Lee pushed ‘Fly Eye’ into the wall..

As expected, it passed through the wall naturally. This wall seemed to be ‘optical illusion magic’.

Soon, the inside of the wall and the interior view unfolded before his eyes..

It was a dark cave, with torches lit on both sides of the passage..

‘This… … I think it's an event map........'

There was no way a space like this existed in the basement of an ordinary shopping mall..

It was clear that this was a special 'event map' created for some reason..

‘And maybe it has something to do with their quest..’

Lee Hyun-wook was bothered by the word ‘devil’ in the previous phone call..

If it's a devil he knows... … It was never something that could be easily overcome..

‘That's a monster as difficult as a world boss monster..’

But it is scheduled to be summoned to Seoul, the unidentified man said..

To get accurate information, it was necessary to go inside..

He boldly threw himself into the wall and infused mana into Gyges' ring..

- uh! Looks like he got in!

- Crazy guy, seems like he has good sense, but no luck.!

but…….

- Wow, what that guy looks like… … It disappeared from nowhere!

- what? What kind of nonsense is that? uh…….

The next moment, the whole bunch held their breath..

He was alert in all directions with his five senses open to look for intruders..

But they couldn't find anything,

I could only hear one sound.

Blah blah blah----——

It was a strange sound, as if something hard was coming out from behind my back..